Woman compared the running costs of brand new Tesla Model 3 to a used BMW 3 Series and was amazed by the results

This woman compared the running costs of a Tesla Model 3 to a BMW 3 Series.

These two cars are relatively similar, so the results should be pretty interesting.

They’re available in a similar market bracket and come at a comparable price point.

However, when it comes to running costs, this isn’t an apples to apples comparison.

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Living with a Tesla Model 3 vs BMW 3 Series

Both the BMW 3 Series and Tesla Model 3 are categorized as mid-size sedans, and both start at around $45,000.

Both depreciate at a normal rate, even though the Model 3 tends to lose its value a bit faster than the 3 Series.

Even so, what you lose in terms of depreciation, you can more than make up for with the money you save by lowering maintenance costs.

Shelby Church, YouTuber and long-time Tesla owner, broke it down in a video she uploaded to her YouTube channel.

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Across five years, this Model 3 owner paid just $1,000 in maintenance, $8,008 in insurance and $2,250 in electricity.

She did run into unexpected reliability issues, which cost her an extra $3,000.

So the overall cost of her Tesla ownership and use came to $58,574 in total over those five years, including the MSRP.

As for the BMW, the first thing to point out is that insurance would’ve been almost double that of the Tesla, at $14,400.

Fuel would’ve cost around $8,000, more than three times the amount she paid to charge her Model 3.

Maintenance was a bit tricky to calculate, because it all depends on unforeseeable issues, but she said, assuming nothing went wrong, maintenance would’ve cost around $3,000.

In total, the BMW would’ve cost $954 more every year.

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The elephant in the room

Several YouTubers and EV owners put together similar videos in the past, and two things stand out.

The first thing that stands out is the fact EVs are generally cheaper to run across the board.

This is also true once you include hydrogen vehicles in the conversation.

But one of the biggest problems with EVs is depreciation.

On average, EVs depreciate faster and, in some cases, perhaps a bit too fast.

For example, Ford Mustang and Porsche Taycan owners are finding out the hard way that their high-end EVs depreciate faster than normal.

Sooner or later, if and when EVs become the norm, this problem might resolve itself.

But, for the time being, it has to be considered.