Efficiency tests with bikes and ski box (on R1T)

[KootenayEV]

Hey fellow R1 owners - I completed some testing last fall with bikes, a ski box and a hitch rack in various combinations and finally got around to writing it up. The details (and photos) are on my blog, but the TLDR; version is:

• Coming from a Model 3, pleasantly surprised at how little some items affected range (bikes in the box only a handful of %!)
• To the point that when comparing my Model 3 in my "family holiday mode" to what the R1T can haul with the bikes in the box and no ski box on the roof, it only consumes a little over 40 Wh/km more than the 3! (Uh, about 0.35 m/kWh less efficient? My brain hurts.)
• Again contrasting my experience to Tesla, the trip planner is FAR more accurate at predicting arrival range with "stuff" that impacts range due to aero
• I'm now only on ABRP to manually tweak trip plans to avoid chargers I know suck or are slower than I want to use... but once I have my NACS adapter that too will be not needed nearly as much - probably just for trailer-towing trips
• Good reminder at how much more efficient my EVs are compared to my previous ICE vehicles

Hopefully useful for someone else - cheers.

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[Brian-MS90D]

Also a new R1S owner coming from a Tesla MYP (and Tesla MS before that). I agree that the range reliability of this thing is incredible. Compared to a Tesla, it's like magic. I've been road tripping this week and stomping up highway mountain inclines at 85+mph with high winds. Such behavior and environment would have crippled any Tesla's range. The R1S doesn't even notice.

I also agree that the non-Tesla chargers are absolute trash. In the first week of ownership I've already helped multiple random EV owners get their cars charging (they could not), encountered 3 out of service stations, and on multiple charge events the station would cut out mid-charge for no reason. I did get to use one Supercharger MagicDock; dream! Everyone is going to love using the Tesla Superchargers.

 

[COdogman]

Narrow it down to 1 hobby and just stop it already

 

[KootenayEV]

Narrow it down to 1 hobby and just stop it already

Man you don't even know how close you are to the truth... we picked up rock climbing last year, and this winter my wife picked up hockey. Now she wants us to learn tennis! At least all that stuff doesn't require frankensteining the outside of your vehicle!

 

[SurfnBike]

I am thinking about putting a large cargo box on my R1S. How much range do you guys think I will lose? It is a Thule 18 cu.ft. box. Much bigger than a slim ski box.

 

[KootenayEV]

I am thinking about putting a large cargo box on my R1S. How much range do you guys think I will lose? It is a Thule 18 cu.ft. box. Much bigger than a slim ski box.

Depending on your travel speed, I'm thinking around 10-15%.

Caveat: my testing was done on an R1T, so I'm not sure how the roof box will play with the aerodynamics on the R1S.

 

[Skirob]

Thank you for sharing! I am starting a cross-USA roadtrip this week and taking a bike mounted above the bed (crossbars + 1UP rack). Intuitively, I think the hitchmount would be more efficient but don't want the hassle of storing the bike rack at certain locations (or leaving it mounted on the truck 100% of the time). Your testing gives me confidence that the onboard trip planner should be fairly reliable.

 

[KootenayEV]

Thank you for sharing! I am starting a cross-USA roadtrip this week and taking a bike mounted above the bed (crossbars + 1UP rack). Intuitively, I think the hitchmount would be more efficient but don't want the hassle of storing the bike rack at certain locations (or leaving it mounted on the truck 100% of the time). Your testing gives me confidence that the onboard trip planner should be fairly reliable.

Have an awesome trip! You can test the potential hit pretty quickly if you have somewhere you can control speeds, similar to what I did if you want greater confidence. (I’d be interested to know!) Cheers.

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