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Old 11-20-2023, 12:49 PM   #7 (permalink)
aerohead
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'Tesla Model 3 wheel aero'

Bob, I believe that you're the first to do un-ventilated wheel covers on the Model 3 ( I like it! ).
Back in 2018, Robert Palin, who'd been Tesla's aerodynamicist for all Tesla cars, except the Lotus Elise-based 1st-gen Roadster, reported on the Model 3 aero covers, @ electrek.co.
Palin attributed 10% efficiency increase, and 3% range improvement at 'high' speed, perhaps 141-mph ( it wasn't specified ).
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Then, I think it was Bjorn Nyland, who rented a Tesla Model 3 in Germany, and road tested it, with and without the aero covers.
He drove a 94-km circuit, at up to 150-km/h, and he's one to pre-condition a car to achieve thermal equilibrium before actual testing begins :
1) @ 150 the covers were good for 8-km additional range ( 2.564% ), 320 km vs 312 km.
2) @ 136.7, 1.944%.
3) @ 120.7, 1.335%.
4) @ 104.6, 0.869%
5) @ 88.5, 0.526%
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Bjorn Nyland also tested a Tesla Model 3 from Tesla's Hawthorne, California headquarters, on the San Diego Freeway, at 75-mph ( 120.7-km/h ), in late evening when traffic was minimized.
After thermal equilibrium was achieved, the Model 3 returned 179 Wh/ mi with the aero covers, vs 186 Wh/mi without the covers, a 3.9% energy delta.
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Some messengers report that production tires will have a constant coefficient of power absorption up to 'standing wave' velocity, of which the manufacturer will electronically limit the car's top speed below that threshold. I can't say, one way or another.
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Thanks for the top-shelf testing, data reduction, and reporting!
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