Man who's owned Tesla Model 3 for 4 years and 60,000 miles breaks down its costs and compares it to a gas car

Owning a car is expensive, but just how expensive depends on what you’re driving, so this British man, who had owned a Tesla Model 3 for four years and 60,000 miles, wanted to see if he had made the right decision.

He added up everything from servicing and charging to depreciation before comparing it with a similar gas-powered car.

The ongoing debate about whether EVs or gas cars are better is a debate as old as time, but this investigation looked into longer- term EV ownership.

The results showed where EV ownership can save money, and where it definitely doesn’t.

Tesla Model 3 owner reveals every major cost after six years

YouTuber Electric Vehicle Man worked out exactly how much it has cost him to run after four years, and we have converted all of his findings to US dollars.

Servicing his Tesla Model 3 was surprisingly cheap, with one Tesla service, two MOTs, replacement air filters and new wiper blades totaling around $300, but charging also came in lower than many would expect.

He estimated spending around $2,400 on electricity over 60,000 miles, with most of that mileage charged at home, while tires cost him roughly $2,700.

The biggest expense wasn’t maintenance at all, but depreciation.

After buying the car for about $54,000, he estimated that it was worth around $24,000 after four years of ownership, meaning it had lost around $30,000 in value.

How the Tesla compared with a gas-powered car

Overall, he calculated the Model 3 cost about $35,000 to own over four years, or roughly $8,800 per year.

However, he estimated a comparable gas-powered car averaging 50mpg would have burned around $10,700 worth of fuel over the same distance, compared with the Tesla’s $2,400 charging bill.

He said that if he were buying another car today, he’d choose a used EV, letting someone else absorb the biggest depreciation hit while still benefiting from the lower servicing and charging costs.

He has since uploaded a follow-up after selling the Model 3, allowing him to calculate its exact depreciation.

After nearly six years and 83,000 miles, he sold the EV for around $16,600, meaning it had lost approximately $37,600 in value from its original purchase price.

Despite that, he said he still believes the overall ownership costs were reasonable for a brand-new car, especially given its low servicing bills and the money he saved by charging at home instead of filling up with gas.

His findings mirror previous long-term Tesla ownership reports, which have found that while depreciation can be steep, lower running costs can help balance the overall cost of ownership.