Courtesy of Matt Pressman and Guest contributor: Steve Sasman, Tesla Renter*
It’s true. A Tesla with 300,000 miles isn’t THAT impressive anymore. After all, there are a handful out there over 500,000, and even one over 600,000 miles.
 |
Above: My old Tesla Model S, no longer mine, just hit another milestone, 300,000 miles driven (Source: Tesla Renter)
But this particular Tesla has really LIVED it’s life and crammed more interesting, diverse experiences into its rich history than any Tesla… ever. Most high mileage Teslas just had long commutes or were workhorses for services like Tesloop going back and forth.
Can you say B-O-R-I-N-G? I know Elon can.
Rather than rehash its entire history, you can check out a recap of this legendary Tesla at the 100,000 and 200,000 mile mark.
Clearly, I love long road trips. Want evidence? Check out my 48-state (plus Canada) 27,615-mile road trip back in 2015. By the way, here are 11 of my best road trip hacks if you care.
So, whats happened since 200,000 on April 16, 2019?
On August 26, 2019, exactly five years after my Model S purchase, I sold my Tesla. That’s right, I sold it at 214,072 miles for $26,000. It was bittersweet, as I loved every minute of owning this P85. It was just time to unload as I also had a Model X and a Performance Model 3. I knew I wanted to focus on Teslas with Autopilot with a path to Full Self Driving. The P85 didn’t even have parking sensors, much less any Autopilot at all.
 |
Above: Renting out my Tesla ‘hotel’ on AirBnB (Source: Tesla Renter)
Did this Tesla have a few highlights over the years? Indeed. The car was listed on AirBnB as the “World’s Fastest Hotel” generating worldwide press (including CNN, The Today Show, ABC World News Tonight, and many more media outlets). It also became the first Tesla ever to visit 200 Superchargers. In 2018, I took a 12,100-mile road trip (42 states – 6 with Model 3) and visited all 107 Tesla Stores and met over 500 Tesla employees. In 2019, I took a 5,000-mile plus road trip to Cape Canaveral for a SpaceX Launch as a prize for the Tesla Referral Program — and broke 200K on the way back to AZ.
Yes, there’s more. I gave 2000+ Uber and Lyft rides and turned tons of skeptics into true believers. I rented my Model S on Turo 167 times – including a couple of fender-benders. I used the car as a work truck for my Vacation Rental business. And I “camped” in this Tesla about 50 times, saving over $5,000 in hotels.
Ok, so you sold the car at 214,000 miles. Isn’t that the end of the story?
Hahahaha.
I couldn’t just sell the car to some boring accountant who’s most adventurous plan was a road trip to Office Depot.
I had to sell the car to one of the 2 or 3 people on the planet who’s done crazier road trips in an electric car than yours truly.
Above: Brian Kent and I on the day I sold my Tesla Model S P85 to him (YouTube: Tesla Renter)
We are talking about a guy who knows the ultimate in road trip torture. A guy who did a 48-state road trip in a Nissan LEAF. Yeah, the car with an 89-mile range. And NO Supercharger network. I knew if this guy could put himself through that…there’s no limit what he could do with a long-range EV.
So, how did he do?
In 11 short months, Brian Kent added 85,928 miles. In fact, at the time he crossed 300K, he was in Key West, Florida after just being in the farthest possible northwest corner of the USA — up in Washington state just a few days earlier.
He might even hit 100,000 miles inside of one year of ownership.
Additionally, to add to the utter abuse I’ve put that Tesla through, he added a tow hitch.
A what?
To a Tesla Model S sedan?
Yeah, I said a TOW HITCH.
Turns out when I recommended he check out this nationwide delivery service called Roadie, he took me pretty seriously.
And by seriously, I mean seriously crazy. In a good way. Except if you feel sorry for the poor Tesla.
Here’s just a sample of the items the Tesla towed that other motorists on the highway surely did a serious double-take on in disbelief.
 |
 |
 |
 |
From top to bottom: Yep, this happened; Just a log splitter; No log splitter big enough for THIS log; Towing just a lawnmower this time (Source: Tesla Renter)
Brian’s Roadie stats? With the Tesla Model S, he was able to pocket $15,700 in total earnings from his 725 completed jobs (17,567 miles driven).
And Brian tells me he’s spent about $5,000 on repairs over the last 86,000 miles.
This brings the total (not counting tires) to about $10,500 in maintenance to go 300,000 miles in a Tesla or just about 3.5 cents per mile. Keep in mind, 300,000 miles is 20 years of “normal” driving crammed into under 8 years.
Tesla is an unstoppable force of nature. The cars excel in so many ways it’s hard to keep track. Their pace of innovation is so much faster than the companies trying to catch them.
It’s like giving Usain Bolt a head start in a race against Charles Barkley.
Newsflash: Chuck ain’t catching up. Even with donuts at the finish line.
The fervor surrounding Tesla’s stock price is just one indicator that people are finally starting to realize electric is not only the future, it’s the right-freaking-now. Buying any gas car today is a seriously bad investment. In 5 years, how many people will want to buy a used gas-powered car when an EV will be cheaper upfront, go 500-miles on a charge and cost way less to operate? It will be as absurd as using an old flip phone instead of a smartphone.
Oh, and still think Tesla is “just a car company?”
Tesla is killing it in SOLAR.
They now offer the best solutions from the amazing Solar Glass Roof that looks incredible – it IS the roof. It’s hail proof and is perfect for any new roof application.
For existing roofs, pop on a “Money Printing Machine” better known as Solar Panels where you can either buy upfront or “Subscribe” to earn monthly savings on electricity with no upfront cost.
Get on the Tesla Train now folks.
There’s still plenty of room to appear like an early adopter in 5 years when Tesla is the most valuable company in the world.
Use my Referral Code to save $100 on Solar or get 1,000 free Supercharging miles on any new Tesla.
===
*Guest Contributor Bio: Steve Sasman is a Tesla experimenter and 48-state road tripper at TeslaRenter.com; he’s also a sharing economy enabler at FlagstaffRentalCabin.com. Editor’s Note: Last year, Steve went on an epic 48 state road trip visiting 107 Tesla stores, meeting over 500 Tesla employees, and discovering some must-read Tesla road trip hacks along the way.
