Breene Murphy and his family live in Laguna Beach, California. Breene used to commute 100+ miles a day to work in his 2008 Toyota Prius. In 2019, he decided to upgrade to an EV. “I hate the smell of gas and exhaust,” Breene said, “and I’m well aware of the smog issue we have in southern California and I don’t want to contribute to that.” Gas prices were also steadily increasing, and he knew that it would be cheaper to charge the EV than to fill up at the pump. 

Breene chose a 2019 Tesla Model 3 because of its 310 mile range, which would work for his long commutes. He does warn that the range printed on the EV isn’t always what you get in the real world because of speed, weather, and other factors. Still, it could get him to and from work on a single charge, and it felt like a big upgrade from the Prius. “I was surprised by how quiet the car is. It’s very peaceful to drive,” Breene said. 

He installed an EV charger at home. “In the rare cases where I do need to charge on the road, it’s usually by a coffee shop. I go get a coffee and hang out, which is so much nicer than a creepy gas station.” Breene notes that it takes ~3 times longer to charge than it would to pump gas, but he doesn’t mind. He estimates he’s saved ~$100 a month by not needing to buy gas. 

In the 4 years Breene has owned the EV, he’s never had to do any maintenance on it. With the Prius, he’d have to take the car in one to two times a year. “I never liked going in to get the car serviced. I was always worried they’re going to charge me a lot,” Breene says. “When I hit 150,000 miles on my gas car, it felt like it was close to death. With the Tesla, it feels like it’s just getting started.”