Not directly Clarity related, but...

[Fast Eddie B]

With the new year, we got a hankerin' for a new car and settled on this:

A Model 3 Long Range with the Red the only option.

Ordered yesterday. Originally told March delivery but it looks like it got moved up. Yay!

If all goes well we're picking up our deer-damaged Clarity in E NC tomorrow. I had pessimistically assumed about 4 months to repair it but it only took 2. Not the end of the world but the regular $50 fillups for our Flex and Ridgeline have kinda sucked for these two months.

For now, we'll keep our 2018 Clarity for impromptu road trips where we don't want to even think about charging and range anxiety. I suspect we'll probably come around and decide to sell it and use the Flex for those trips. If we do decide to sell, I'll post it here first - its been a great, reliable car for these 3 years.

As an aside, I went over the the Tesla Model 3 forum here, expecting it to be a busy place. It's not. I'm guessing there must be other forums that Testa owners are frequenting.

 

[BrianRC]

After you've had a chance to drive the Tesla for a few weeks, write back and let us know your thoughts.

 

[Fast Eddie B]

After you've had a chance to drive the Tesla for a few weeks, write back and let us know your thoughts.

Will do.

 

[insightman]

Will do.

I know what you've really wished for is to drive a French car. As you abandon your faux Citroen will you get Caravelle lettering for the front of your Model 3?

 

[Fast Eddie B]

I know what you've really wished for is to drive a French car. As you abandon your faux Citroen will you get Caravelle lettering for the front of your Model 3?

View attachment 14746

Don’t give me any ideas!

 

[Mowcowbell]

Congratulations on your Tesla purchase. I'll be joining the full EV family this year. I need a vehicle with a higher step-in height than a Model 3, so I'm going with a VW ID.4 Pro S AWD.

 

[Fast Eddie B]

Congratulations on your Tesla purchase. I'll be joining the full EV family this year. I need a vehicle with a higher step-in height than a Model 3, so I'm going with a VW ID.4 Pro S AWD.

I’m 72. That was part of the calculus to jump in now, rather than wait two years or more for the CyberTruck or Rivian R1T. We still have refundable deposits on both as future options.

No doubt as a septuagenarian I’ve lost a step or two, along with some strength and flexibility. Still, step-in height hasn’t seemed to be an issue to date. Karen is still a “sexy-genarian” and also no problems with step-in height to date. We’ve even considered going cross country in a Miata at some point while we still can, so there’s that.

The VW EV’s have been well received to date. As has the new Hyundai Ionic 5. We’ve been kinda enamored with the Tesla for years and really didn’t comparison shop, but there’s certainly a growing list of formidable competition to the Tesla out there.

 

[Landshark]

Not Clarity related either, other than being a PHEV, our next vehicle will be the Jeep Grand Cherokee PHEV. It will replace the current diesel model, which would have been costly had it not been for the emissions settlement which provided a very comprehensive warranty for 8 years and 120,000 miles. There’s still ~2 years remaining.

The 24 mile EV range will be adequate. Some local trips may require a bit of fuel. It can be flat towed behind the motorhome and charged at RV resorts. It will likely become the go to road trip vehicle even though fuel economy will be worse than the Clarity and the current Jeep.