Quote:
Originally Posted by redpoint5
I wonder, in that Tesla/trailer stunt, did they calculate the most time efficient speed to travel?
In ICE vehicles, there is no practical limit to speed vs efficiency with regard to time. Going 100 MPH will get you to the destination faster even if you have to stop more often to refuel, but that's because refueling is so quick and available. Not necessarily so with an EV. I once calculated the theoretical optimal speed to travel in a Chevy Bolt to be about 77 MPH for completing a long distance trip in the shortest amount of time. That car is limited to ~50 kW charging, and severely tapers charging rate shortly after 50% state of charge.
That brings me to the next question; did they determine the optimal amount of time to spend recharging and plan their stops accordingly? It's very inefficient time-wise to charge above a certain state of charge due to tapering. You end up being better off stopping more frequently but for shorter durations.
So, I wonder what the efficiency of the Tesla and trailer was at various speeds, and if there was any lower speed that would have been more time efficient to travel at? I suspect not since Teslas have a higher charging rate, but still curious to see the analysis.
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Once the trailer hitch is installed,the Tesla 'knows' that its in Trailer Mode.Once underway,the car self-interrogates itself,modifying its appraisal of range with respect to real-time demand.
At a SuperCharger station,the car will recommend when to cease charging and resume travel,not necessarily having you leave with any close to a full charge.
There's a whole Tesla owners website where they post trip data,trailers they pull,and strategies for travel.I get the sense that the trip is the experience,not necessarily the destination.From these posts you can see Model X owners getting 373 Wh/mi pulling shrunken Airstreams at 55-mph,with climbs of 2500-feet,compared to around 253 Wh/mi solo;no worse than some ICE vehicles.They also report the amount of regen power recovered as a function of road grade.