Back in 2016, I was one of the over 1 Million people who put a $1000 Deposit down to reserve their spot in the que to buy a Tesla Model 3. Recently I got an email from Tesla saying it’s finally close to the time where I can actually order my Tesla. Yes, the first obvious reaction was “Awesome”, but then I started thinking about how Green my Tesla would really be. The numbers below would be different based on your commute distance, but here’s how everything stacked up for me.

Although the Tesla would beat my current car by a long shot in terms of carbon emissions, but it got really difficult to quantify the embodied energy of my current pre-owned (recycled) car to a brand new car. With the limited amount of driving that I do per week it really moved the gauge towards using the existing car or even better biking. With the fuel mix of Georgia improving each year, the same Tesla will continue to become Greener. Now the hard part, what color should this “Green” car be?