Canadian breaks down cost of owning 2025 Tesla Model 3 after 15,000 miles and one year, compares it to gas car
Published on Sep 09, 2025 at 12:19 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on Sep 09, 2025 at 8:31 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Ben Thompson
This Tesla owner in Canada broke down the costs of owning a Tesla Model 3 versus an internal combustion car after a year.
There’s no doubt he saved a lot of money.
From maintenance costs to charging, everything was cheaper with this electric.
That is, with one annoying exception.
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Everything is less expensive with a Model 3, with one exception
In his latest video, YouTuber Griffin’s Garage – a Tesla owner with a Model 3 and a Model Y at his disposal – explained how much he saved by switching to a Tesla Model 3 after a gas car.
After one year and 15,000 miles, the amount of money he saved was definitely impressive.
Charging is relatively cheap in Canada, and Griffin calculated that owning a Tesla Model 3 for a year and 15,000 miles will cost just $260 if you can always charge it at home, and around $1,000 if you use a Supercharger.
Either option is cheaper than filling up the tank of an internal combustion car with fuel, because that’d cost you anywhere between $1,200 and $1,700 depending on the vehicle.
Maintenance costs went down as well, mainly because EVs have fewer moving parts so as long as the battery pack and engine are fine, you only need to worry about tires and brakes.
The only thing that’s more expensive in a Tesla
Interestingly, the insurance premium went up, mainly because several countries and states consider Tesla cars to be luxury vehicles.
This is not unheard of (it’s often the same thing in several US states), but it’s still strange.
Because it essentially means marking the world’s best-selling vehicle in 2023 and 2024 (it was nearly beaten by the Toyota Corolla, but regained its number one spot by just over 100,000 units) as a ‘luxury car’.
This is surely a contradiction in terms, right?
Not only that, it also means claiming that the Model S Plaid, a $100,000 car, is a luxury vehicle just like the the RWD Model 3, which starts at $42,490.
