UK man who's owned a Tesla Model 3 for six years shares the total cost of ownership for the entire time
Published on Feb 21, 2026 at 10:39 AM (UTC+4)
by Henry Kelsall
Last updated on Feb 19, 2026 at 9:03 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Emma Matthews
A man from the UK has shown us how much it costs over a six-year period to own and run a Tesla Model 3 EV.
YouTuber Electric Vehicle Man has owned the car for six years, but recently said on his YouTube channel that he had sold the car on to someone else.
In theory, an EV will be cheaper to own and run than a gasoline-powered car, as you won’t be paying as much for maintenance or to charge up the car.
The YouTuber did an interesting breakdown of his costs, including service, fuel, tyres, and the depreciation of the Tesla.
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The true cost of owning a Tesla Model 3
Servicing the Tesla Model 3 EV over the six years was not expensive for the YouTuber.
He worked out that it had cost him £56/$76.
Tires were one of the bigger costs involved with the EV, and he paid £1,980/$2,702.
The YouTuber made sure he paid for proper, high-quality tires, and not cheap ones that wouldn’t last as long.
Out of all the expenses involved, it will come as no surprise that the recharging costs were the most interesting.
Factoring in home and supercharging, the total for ‘refueling’ the Tesla came to £2,330/$3,179.
Compared to a car that would do 50MPG, he calculated it would cost £10,000/$13,646.
That is a saving of over $10,000 over the six years.
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Depreciation was an important factor to consider
One of the biggest aspects he had to consider was the depreciation of the car.
This is effectively how much value the car loses over the time it’s in someone’s ownership.
Electric Vehicle Man calculated that the car had lost £27,800 over that period, roughly $37,936.
It was a brand new car when he bought it, and that was some fairly significant depreciation.
The total cost of the car over the six years was £32,671, coming to a total of $44,585.
That is the price of the car, minus the depreciation, and with all the servicing and fuel costs added in.
It means the car also costs less than $1 per mile over the period, which is very impressive.
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2012 Tesla Roadster Sport: The original electric sportscar – only ~2,500 units ever made
2020 Tesla Model S P100D ‘Ludicrous+’ Edition: A full-size sedan with hypercar acceleration
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2021 Tesla Model X Plaid Prototype: Winged doors and over 1,000hp – seen in very limited testing
2016 Founders Series Tesla Model 3: The first 1,000 units delivered to insiders and early adopters
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Henry joined the Supercar Blondie team in February 2025, and since then has covered a wide array of topics ranging from EVs, American barn finds, and the odd Cold War jet. He’s combined his passion for cars with his keen interest in motorsport and his side hustle as a volunteer steam locomotive fireman at a leading heritage steam railway in England.
