Two months already? Wow.

The end of month two is a great place to pause and look at the math. I just made my second lease payment and looked at the miles and charging stats. Winter has arrived in North Carolina, so I had the chance to evaluate cold weather performance.


The Numbers (Because That’s the Point)

Here’s where things stand after two months:

  • Miles driven: ~3,120
  • Energy drawn from the wall charger: 971 kWh
  • Total charging cost: $96
  • Average energy cost: about 3 cents per mile

Those numbers include:

  • cold mornings
  • heater use
  • short trips
  • charging loss from the level 2 charger (car shows it has only received 843kWh of juice vs the 971 showing on the app is the parasitic loss from the cords, etc.


Just the facts:



Cold Weather Reality Check

One of the biggest questions I get is about winter performance. Short answer: yes, efficiency drops — but not in the catastrophic way the internet often suggests. On a recent 20-degree morning commute, efficiency landed around 300 Wh/mi, compared to a lifetime average closer to 270 Wh/mi. That’s a slight hit, but now it’s predictable and manageable. Running the heat costs energy. Cold soaking the battery will drain it faster. Physics still applies. “The Internet” freaks out over cold weather and EV batteries/ charging, but my 68 mile daily commute went from a 30% round trip battery drop to 33%, give or take 1%. Range anxiety is a non-issue for me on my current commute.


Along with the cold weather, we also had 3-4” of sleet, which quickly turned our side roads into a skating rink, so I was able to try out the AWD and traction control. The Model Y performed flawlessly, as you would expect from a low center of gravity and millisecond level traction control inputs from the computer and electric motor combination. Honestly, the limitations for the car and bad weather are tires and ground clearance. On a personal note, I have to admit that getting into my preheated (seats, steering wheel, and battery) car in the morning and backing out of the garage is a real pleasure.


Mileage Pace (I’m driving too much again)

Lease mileage anxiety is more of an issue than range anxiety. My lease allows 30,000 miles over 24 months, which works out to about 1,250 miles per month. Right now, I’m ahead of that pace by roughly 600 miles.


My daily commute is 34 miles each way, four days a week. On its own, that puts me almost exactly on lease pace. Snow days, holidays, and lighter weeks naturally pull that average back down over time. I am paying attention, and will sit down and run the numbers on just planning to be over at the end vs. paying for gas in my wife’s Honda. There’s always the option of buying/ selling at the end of the lease, or (gasp) planning on keeping it. That is one really nice thing about leasing, you have options.


Getting comfortable

This experiment so far has been eye opening. What surprised me most isn’t the efficiency or the cost — it’s how unremarkable the experience has become. Having just recovered from a *lot* of maintenance and repairs (and gas bills) on my former 2015 Tahoe, I don’t miss:

Cold leather seats on freezing cold mornings, pumping gas in the rain or freezing weather, dead batteries (warranties are great), oil changes, brake jobs, etc. I walk out, unplug, drive, come home, plug in. The car is ready again the next day.

I’m sorry that’s not exciting content, but it’s exactly what most people actually want from a daily driver, and its a nice change of pace.


Looking Ahead

I’ve finalized my camera mounts for in car video, I should have more of those to post soon. Once the world goes back to work here I’ve got tires to mount (thanks Vredestein!) and evaluate. My front Continentals are beginning to sing on the highway something from 2021.

At the three-month mark, the data should start to smooth out enough to show what “normal” really looks like.


For now, Major Tom isn’t trying to prove anything. It’s just quietly doing the job. There’s a lot of internet noise about Tesla, but that’s not the point of this experiment. As a “normal guy trying out his first EV to see if it fits”, we are off to a solid start.