When Life Gives You Lemons, Go Electric

120 to 150 miles a day, sometimes more. That was the long commute. Not during a busy week, not occasionally. That was every workday. Gas was expensive, oil changes came around faster than they should, and something had to give. I didn’t go electric out of passion for the environment. I went electric because I was tired of paying for it. That long commute is the reason this channel exists.

Thanksgiving just passed. I wanted to step back from the specs for a minute and actually share what I’m grateful for.

Family First

My wife Abby and I have been together long enough to know that no relationship is perfect, and that’s fine. We’re both the oldest in our Filipino families, and if you know, you know. That comes with a particular stubbornness baked in. We bump heads sometimes. It just works out in the end.

My oldest is a junior in high school already dealing with senioritis. A year early. That’s out of character for him, so I’m keeping an eye on it, nudging him along. My youngest is the opposite: creative, street smart, a different kind of sharp. Two kids who think completely differently, and I can’t explain how grateful I am for both of them.

The Long Commute That Changed Everything

There’s that saying about making lemonade. My version is different. When life gives me lemons, I go to Costco, grab some salmon, grill it up, and use the lemons as a finishing touch. Why stop at lemonade?

That’s the philosophy that turned a brutal long commute into a career pivot. The job was far. Gas and maintenance costs were stacking. I did look for something closer. The options were thin, and the ones that would’ve actually hired me paid a lot less. So I kept the job and figured out a cheaper way to cover the miles.

I went from a V6 to a hybrid, then skipped plug-in hybrid entirely and went straight electric. No grand environmental moment. Just math. Now this household has zero gas cars. A 180 I didn’t see coming, but here we are.

Thank You Tesla, for Not Being Perfect

Tesla gets a shoutout, not for perfection, but for the opposite. The Model X ownership experience is what pushed me into doing EV content in the first place. The channel was originally a tech channel, and I still miss parts of that. But the mixed Model X experience gave me something real to talk about.

Because of that content, a lot of people reached out who didn’t even know the Tesla buyback program existed. We talked it through, and many of them were able to get their cars bought back. That’s a real outcome from honest content. Everything is an opportunity. It’s up to you how you want to use it.

If you’re picking up a Tesla, use my Tesla referral link.

Thank You Rivian, for Making Trucks an Option

I always wanted a truck. I also drive far, and gas trucks are brutal. So a truck was just never realistic. Then Rivian opened a service center nearby, and that changed the math. Ownership became practical. Service wouldn’t be a logistics problem.

That first R1T is what got me looking at the EV space beyond Tesla. And once I did, there was no going back. So, shout out to Rivian.

If you’re considering a Rivian, my Rivian referral link is out there.

The EV Community

SoCal EVs, Rivian Club, and everyone else. The EV community is genuinely a good thing. I get to bring real ownership experiences to this channel, answer questions from people who’ve never touched an EV, and be part of groups that make electric vehicles less intimidating. That’s hard to put a value on.

Shout out to everyone watching, commenting, sending messages, and saying hey when they spot me at a meetup. That stuff lands more than you’d think.

What’s Coming

A lot is stacked up. The Model Y picked up a screw in the tire, and what looked like a simple fix turned into swapping the whole set. That video is coming. Cybertruck mud flaps are installed and ready to cover. Vegas content is incoming because I’ll be out there at least three more times in the next month.

One thing worth flagging now: there’s a new Supercharger at Baker that I didn’t know existed until this Thanksgiving trip. That stretch between SoCal and Vegas has historically been rough for non-Tesla owners. Electrify America is the only alternative there and it’s expensive and spotty. The Baker Supercharger is NACS-compatible, so non-Tesla EVs can use it. That’s a meaningful new option for anyone doing that route.

There’s also an EV Confessions episode coming. I finally sat down with TeslaFlix. That one is already recorded. And the Vegas trip with my uncle is already on the channel if you want to see how that one went.

December 7th there are two toy drives: Tesla Club Inland Empire and SoCal Tesla Runs at Riverside Tesla, and one from the Rivian Club. Check those out if you’re in SoCal.

One-year Cybertruck review is coming in January. I want to do the full year properly. The Model Y Juniper closer look is still on the table. Let me know in the comments if you want that one.

Thanks for being patient, for watching, and for supporting the channel. Happy Thanksgiving, late but genuine.