Actual ownership cost to own a Taycan

[andrew1cohen]

Hi:

I have a GTS on order -- I should see it in late December or early January.

My wife, the CFO of the family, wants me to run some numbers on the cost of ownership. Right now, I drive a 2015 BMW M4 convertible -- I bought it used in early 2018 for $54k, and it's worth ~$32k as a trade-in. Annually, it costs me cost about $15k a year, including depreciation, maintenance, gas, and insurance for 10k to 12k miles a year


For my Taycan, my wife wants me to keep it under a 50% to 60% increase, or less than $24k a year averaged over 5 years. Here are my calculations:
-- $14,320 a year in depreciation, average over 5 years (the GTS is $179,000 inc tax and I'm assuming a 60% residual -- (60% is not what Porsche will give me in a lease, but what I can actually get when I sell it in 5 years)
-- $2,500 in maintenance, tires each year, plus minor stuff
-- $1,000 for electricity (we have solar, help at EA?)
-- $2,800 for Insurance
-- $4,000 for the after-tax cost of tying up an extra $100,000 in a non-appreciating asset.

For an average of $24,620 a year. Darn close!

Do you think my numbers are reasonable, especially the 60% residual after five years?

No need to comment on this exercise! It's important to my wife

Thanks!

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[submatrix]

Hi:

I have a GTS on order -- I should see it in late December or early January.

My wife, the CFO of the family, wants me to run some numbers on the cost of ownership. Right now, I drive a 2015 BMW M4 convertible -- I bought it used in early 2018 for $54k, and it's worth ~$32k as a trade-in. Annually, it costs me cost about $15k a year, including depreciation, maintenance, gas, and insurance for 10k to 12k miles a year


For my Taycan, my wife wants me to keep it under a 50% to 60% increase, or less than $24k a year averaged over 5 years. Here are my calculations:
-- $14,320 a year in depreciation, average over 5 years (the GTS is $179,000 inc tax and I'm assuming a 60% residual -- (60% is not what Porsche will give me in a lease, but what I can actually get when I sell it in 5 years)
-- $2,500 in maintenance, tires each year, plus minor stuff

Sounds high unless you are changing tires multiple times a year. I've spent $0 on maintenance so far in my ~1.5 years of ownership, although I did just get hit by a rock on the freeway that will eat up my $1000 insurance deductible.

I had a one instance of curb rash which I had repaired using my Porsche wheel/dent insurance for free.

I will caveat that I don't track my car but I do take the occasional fast turn . Not really launching the car at all. Mostly used as a daily driver and a few road trips a year.

-- $1,000 for electricity (we have solar, help at EA?)

Sounds extremely high, especially if you have solar. I pay ~$0.24/kWh which works out to ~$20 for charging from 0 - 100 for my 83 kWh usable battery capacity. $1000 would be 50 full charges which is 4 full charges a week, and that's not accounting for any solar.

-- $2,800 for Insurance

I pay $1200 a year for insurance in California, again this seems kinda high.

-- $4,000 for the after-tax cost of tying up an extra $100,000 in a non-appreciating asset.

For an average of $24,620 a year. Darn close!

Do you think my numbers are reasonable, especially the 60% residual after five years?

No need to comment on this exercise! It's important to my wife

Thanks!

 

[andrew1cohen]

It's my first EV - It's hard to get used to the idea that ongoing costs are so low. But this is good news indeed!

Did you have any thoughts on my 5-year residual estimate that the car would be worth 60% of new value at year 5?

Thanks, I appreciate your input!

 

[Jhenson29]

$1000 would be 50 full charges which is 4 full charges a week,

More like 1/week. I think you were thinking per month.

 

[submatrix]

It's my first EV - It's hard to get used to the idea that ongoing costs are so low. But this is good news indeed!

Did you have any thoughts on my 5-year residual estimate that the car would be worth 60% of new value at year 5?

Thanks, I appreciate your input!

Not really sure about residual, tbh.

 

[submatrix]

More like 1/week. I think you were thinking per month.

Oops yes, that was my mistake. I was about to go to bed

In that case, 1 charge a week is a much more reasonable amount...still seems solar should help you here though. Do you have a battery?

 

[daveo4EV]

It's my first EV - It's hard to get used to the idea that ongoing costs are so low. But this is good news indeed!

Did you have any thoughts on my 5-year residual estimate that the car would be worth 60% of new value at year 5?

Thanks, I appreciate your input!

it's even cheaper to charge the EV if you switch to PG&E's EVB rate plan…check it out

you can ball park 2.8 miles/kWh - and then distance you drive daily/weekly/monthly / 2.8 = kWh's on your bill

and then multiply that by your per kWh rate plan for cost to "fill" the EV - historically since I've been driving EV's since 2012 the electric bill is about 1/3rd of a gasoline bill - if you're spending $500/month @ chevron you'll swap that for a $150-$180 increase on your electrical bill - people freak because they see the bigger electric bill and forget they no longer have the chevron bill - LOL

 

[ThePaddyWan]

Residuals is a bit hard to pin-point since there's so much unknown for future values, especially since we don't have 5-year old Taycans to compare to. GTS Trim would probably retain value well.

• Charging can be as low as $0/year if it's easy to charge at EA for example. Combined with your solar you shouldn't get up to $1K/year.
• Tire / Maintenance, probably fair. Given tires will probably last you 1.25-1.5 years given those miles (less if you track).
• That insurance number looks high. Mines is $500/6-months or about $1K/year.
• Don't forget annual registration. It was $1500 or so for me (Turbo / CA).

 

[kwanyu]

-- $4,000 for the after-tax cost of tying up an extra $100,000 in a non-appreciating asset.

I'm curious how you calculated the $4k opportunity cost and whether you've factored in the absurd inflation.

My insurance is $1500/yr. Northern California.
Zero electricity cost (EA, free charge at work) @ 20 kWh/100km
Maintenance: only one brake fluid change $300
Tires sound about right

 

[Fsudoles]

I’m probably an outlier…we live in a condo, no charging at home options yet, but we don’t drive a ton. That said, with State Farm, I signed up for the drive safe program when we took delivery back in April of this year. My semiannual premium is down to $535 for the Taycan. As for depreciation, too soon to tell, although I saw a 2022 RWD CPO with very similar options as ours on sale in West Palm Beach for $115,000, which is close to $20,000 more than we paid in April. We traded two Porsches for our Taycan so no payments. We prepaid our first service and took the rim and tire protection as well to bump us just over $100,000 out the door. So with charging at EA once a week or so…and no other expenses, our monthly nut is a whopping $90 for insurance. Oh, we’re getting a $7500 Federal Income Tax credit next April as well….

 

[RAHRCR]

Strange to see folks comparing insurance premiums. Coverage can vary so widely and the premium follows. Very much apples and oranges. Service and parts should be comparable though.

 

[andrew1cohen]

Strange to see folks comparing insurance premiums. Coverage can vary so widely and the premium follows. Very much apples and oranges. Service and parts should be comparable though.

Actually, hearing about the low insurance rates is an eye-opener for me. My wife and I have perfect driving records and are paying more than 2x any other rate mentioned here. Maybe I need a new insurance broker

 

[philbur]

we are about to hit one year.. 9,000 miles and ate about 3,000kwh of home charging (95% of our charging).. Seattle is $0.13 a kWh = $390! so you can chop your electron costs in 1/2? If you have solar wouldnt you calculate that energy into cost recovery until you break even? Im about to get a 15kw system and just doing the solar math. We are all electric at home and eat 20k kwh a year on average.

 

[FlyingPoint]

It's my first EV - It's hard to get used to the idea that ongoing costs are so low. But this is good news indeed!

Did you have any thoughts on my 5-year residual estimate that the car would be worth 60% of new value at year 5?

Thanks, I appreciate your input!

While it is always possible to see a 60% residual sale value at the end of year 5, it is not advisable to plan for it. Sure, during these times - all norms are off. Over the years, I have seen how OEM manipulate the market. Why is it that in most times and for most vehicles, the residual of a lease is very close to equal to the market. How can they project out 5 years with such precision.
I would use the leasing residual for budgeting. Better to be positively surprised.

 

[TYKHAAAN]

Closing in on 2 years ownership and still on my first set of tires with 30k miles on them (Pilot Sport 4) and very close to replacing them. Charge mostly at home about 2 or 3 times a week at .10 per kwh rate where I live. Did the 20k mile maintenance is the only fee I’ve had to pay and that varies per your dealership service, from 300-800+ Is what I’ve seen. Depreciation is not something we can really factor, the market is out of whack and EV demand is so high, and likely will stay that way as adoption increases, so it’s possible these cars will be worth quite a bit for a long while. Lots of things could affect that tho. Insurance varies as many have said.

So that 26k per year, i havnt been anywhere CLOSE to that in two years. Not even half. It really is far cheaper to own an EV for maintenance costs. There’s almost nothing to do (about 20 owing parts vs ICE cars 150 something moving parts). Tires depend on how you drive (and quality) and I dont drive slow, but not like i used to in my youth either. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the yearly costs. Good luck and have fun!

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