Can you really compare a 20 year old honda del sol to a new model 3 (when it comes out obvioulsly) though? I don't have anything against used cars, but its apples and oranges. You can totally claim those numbers as savings, in an apples to apples comparison to a similar class car from a close year.
The claim was around saving money vs. a Civic. You're going to have to assume a lot of miles (and make favorable assumptions about long-term maintenance) to make the numbers work. I have nothing against EVs but they're generally not a good purely financial decision for most people today.
[ADDED: The mass-market Tesla is going to still be a premium vehicle relative to other options. There's nothing wrong with that. But it's unrealistic to expect that crunching the numbers the right way will make Tesla the optimal financial decision for everyone.]
