<prompt> Human: I recently read the post about driving cars over 35k but his reasons and the solution accepted is not entirely applicable to our situation. Starting point seems to be about the same: combined income around 120k, no debt aside from mortgage. Thats where similarities end. We dont race, we dont go our driving often just because, dont really consider cars to be a hobby. I do simple maintenance my own cars because its cheaper and I like to know how things work.My wife drives right around 50 miles per weekday and at least that amount every weekend as well in a 2001 Saturn 30mpg. Its aging, reliable parts are getting more expensiveharder to find for it, and its quite small. Weve decided to start looking for a crossover-type vehicle as a replacement for her as children are on the roadmap someday.We were fortunate to be able to test drive a Tesla Model S this past weekend and must admit were now both enamored by the possibilities of an electric vehicle. We were told handling would be similar in the Model X, which is likely the model we would be interested in. It seems many of the maintenance and cost issues of a used foreign exotic as seen in the other post dont apply to a domestic EV, but there may be other expensesissues I havent considered. Are there any PFers whove purchased a Tesla and encountered unexpected issuescosts? How has it compared to your gas vehicles? What is the insurance cost? 85k priced out with desired options, after tax credit seems like so much to spend on a vehicle of ANY type. There are are any PF Tesla owners: was it worth it?NOTE: We would not be financing all of it, but how much is still up for consideration. Probably shooting for payments under 800mo.EDIT Thanks for everyones helpful suggestions and thoughtful replies! Its obvious my wife and I have a lot more research and comparisons to do. I think weve expanded our potential vehicle list by at least three times... Assistant: The thing about the Model S is this: people dont buy them because theyre economical. They buy them because theyre fucking awesome. A Model S would be much cheaper to run than any gas or hybrid car but not enough to make 85k worth it. Im not sure about insurance though. There cant be much of a market for stolen Teslas since they have GPS tracking and the parts arent useful anywhere else.If you want an economical electric car, check out the Nissan Leaf or wait for Teslas Model 3.Human: RE: the Nissan Leaf route. There are two main reason why such a vehicle is not a good fit for our situation: 1. The range is poor. My wife would need to find somewhere to charge at work, which is currently not an option.2. We live in a harsh desert climate Phoenix and without the active battery cooling that the Teslas have, its a known issue that the Leaf range is impacted substantially, which further aggravates problem 1 above.Waiting until the Tesla Model 3 comes out unfortunately doesnt solve the size issue as its purported to be smaller than the Model S nor the need to upgrade sooner than 3 years from now issue.Assistant: Why not a cheap hybrid like the Prius C?Human: I wasnt even aware that a Prius C existed. Ill have to add this one to the list to consider. Thanks!  <response>: I love it for city driving, Ive seen my MPG go up to 60mpg. Gets around 55 on average though 