The story · seven chapters · 4 min read

What would happen if the owner switched from gas to electric?

Going from gas to electric for the first time is a sequence, so it is told as one. The order is the information: this is what happened, roughly in the order it happened. Where a chapter has a page of numbers behind it, the link under it opens it.

1. Chapter0

   Before

   Four gas vehicles, all of them actually owned and driven, not national averages. A 2015 Express 2500 cargo van doing detail runs, a 2011 Sienna, a Sequoia that lasted fifteen days, and a Lexus ES300h for five more. This is the baseline everything else gets measured against.

   • 13 mpg, 28.0¢/mi Chevrolet Express 2500
   • 20 mpg, 18.2¢/mi Toyota Sienna Limited
   • 15 mpg, 24.3¢/mi Toyota Sequoia Platinum 2WD
   • 44 mpg, 8.3¢/mi Lexus ES300h

2. Chapter1

   The decision

   A used 2024 Model Y Long Range AWD, Solid Black, seven seats and a tow hitch, bought from a franchise dealer in Franklin and financed. Used, because the federal credit was never going to apply to this purchase and someone else had already paid the steepest part of the depreciation curve.

   • 2026-08-22 Delivered
   • 19,256 mi Odometer at delivery
   • January 2024, Fremont Built
   • 2028 or 50k mi Basic warranty
   • 2032 or 120k mi Battery warranty

3. Chapter2

   The first week

   The first Supercharger session, the first time the range number moves faster than expected, and the moment the thing stops feeling like a car and starts feeling like an appliance that plugs in. Across the 56 days measured, real consumption came to 293 Wh per mile, counting every kWh that reached the pack, parked losses included.

   • 293 Wh/mi Real consumption
   • 91% Rated efficiency hit
   • 34 mph Average speed

4. Chapter3

   Living electric

   44 charging sessions, three of them on a private Level 2 plug that costs nothing to use. The blended rate is 41.3¢ per kWh. Paying full freight at a Supercharger, it is 42.3¢.

   Charging, in full

5. Chapter4

   FSD (Supervised)

   95.3% of every mile in this window was on FSD (Supervised), across 511 of 599 trips. That is the number that changed the drive. A 42 mile run to Franklin takes less out of the driver now, eyes on the road the whole way. It still hands control back, and the handoffs are the part nobody puts in the brochure.

   The drive, in full

6. Chapter5

   The ledger

   $576.93 of charging bought 4,765.5 miles. That is 12.1¢ a mile against 28.0¢ for the van, a difference of 15.9¢ on every single mile.

   The ledger, in fullYour Numbers: price it at any rate

7. Chapter6

   The battery

   The question every skeptic asks first. At 24,260 miles and 121 cycles, the battery reads 79 kWh on one reading. A second dated reading is needed before any change can be shown.

   The battery, in full

What the first week feels like

What a driver notices in the first week

• Full torque from a stop, cold or not: electric motors don't need to warm up the way a gas engine does. The power is there the instant the pedal is pressed, even on the coldest morning of the year.
• The cabin is ready before the driver is: start the climate from the app and it's already comfortable by the time anyone is in the seat, no idling in the driveway first.
• One-pedal driving: regenerative braking handles most of the slowing down in stop-and-go traffic, and it's part of why the physical brake pads last so much longer than a gas car's.
• Updates show up on their own: new capability can arrive overnight with no shop visit.
• Real cargo room: 26.6 cubic feet behind the second row with the third row folded, 67.9 with both rear rows folded flat, plus a separate 4.1 cubic foot frunk up front. Enough to move a mattress or a week of gear without a roof box.

What other owners report

• The frunk has a drain plug. It's a documented feature, not a workaround: pull it and the frunk can be hosed out, or packed with ice as a cooler on a road trip.
• Controls → Charging has a "Keep Accessory Power On" toggle. Switch it on and the 12V and USB outlets stay powered, down to 20% battery, without Sentry Mode needing to run at all. Useful for a dashcam or a cooler overnight.
• Camp Mode turns the back seat into somewhere to sleep. Fold the seats flat, run Camp Mode, and it holds cabin temperature and keeps the interior lit off the battery instead of a running engine.
• Dog Mode is real, and most non-owners don't believe it. Leave the dog, and the AC keeps running while the center screen shows the cabin temperature for anyone who walks by and worries.
• Windows crack open from the app. On a hot day, the car can be vented before anyone is anywhere near it, without fully unlocking it.

None of this is unique to this specific car: it's what the Long Range AWD platform does for anyone driving one, legacy or Juniper. What makes it feel like an appliance instead of a car is that most of it runs in the background, without being asked.