Save Weight/ Remove Spare Tire/ Install Tire On The Go

[MeteorGray]

I travel with a plug kit and 12v air compressor, and also have a 60-psi spare in the trunk that I check regularly.

Any mileage lost to the extra weight is not measurable. The misery of being stuck on the side of the Interstate without a fix or a spare is, by the hour.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by MeteorGray

The misery of being stuck on the side of the Interstate without a fix or a spare is, by the hour.

And compared to getting stuck somewhere along say Nevada SR 722 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevada_State_Route_722 ), getting stuck on the side of an interstate is a joy :-)

[MeteorGray]

Trumped!

[dfeldt91]

There has to be a good risk to reward ratio and in this case there is not.

Saving 10 or 20 pounds by not bringing a spare will save you probably not even a dollar per year and when it comes down to the 2 hours you are going to spend on the side of the road trying to fix it, well.......I value my time as I could be working from home. Those two hours would lose me 50X whatever I could have saved by not bringing a spare..

[DragBean]

So to all the neigh sayers, OK maybe 10-20 pounds of weight isn't worth the extra road side hassle of an extra 30 minutes (assuming your are proficient at putting [& Removing a tire *THis is probably Harder 'MOre Technieque'*] and removing), Then

OK,

But if you are on a weight reduction campaign
(Which includes cutting off double slices of peacon pie)

Then this could be worth it.

Especially if you can get rid of 100 Lbs of dead load.

Overall I think it is something to consider if you Have The Skilzs (and don't want to be stranded lower case).

[DragBean]

Never implemented anything here.
But I am thinking about making a super capacitor battery with necessary circuitry to reduce weight, eliminate battery draw power losses, and create engine bay space.

[LittleBlackDuck]

Originally Posted by DragBean

Never implemented anything here.
But I am thinking about making a super capacitor battery with necessary circuitry to reduce weight, eliminate battery draw power losses, and create engine bay space.

Until you leave the car parked for a week...

Also, you will not eliminate battery losses as super capacitors,have higher leakage that will draw more power from your alternator than a battery in good condition.

Simon

[DragBean]

My vehicle has a 250 Watt panel on top. And at 14.6V even a good battery is drawing a couple amps or so.. It becomes non-negligible when you are trying to run the entire "electronics of the" car off Solar

[LittleBlackDuck]

Originally Posted by DragBean

My vehicle has a 250 Watt panel on top. And at 14.6V even a good battery is drawing a couple amps or so..

Actually, if you look at how a battery should be charged, if it is at 14.6V and drawing 2A, it is ether a huuuugeee battery or you are abusing it badly by overcharging the heck out of it.

A good starter resource is Battery University - table 7 states:
"Subject to corrosion and gassing. Needs water refill. Not suitable for charging at high room temperatures, causing severe overcharge." for charging to 2.45V per cell (14.7V).

Charging Information For Lead Acid Batteries

Originally Posted by DragBean

It becomes non-negligible when you are trying to run the entire car off Solar

Also, with an efficient EV using in the order of 250WH/mile and solar production being approximnately 6 x panel capacity per day (in WH), this is an admirable aim but totally impractical unless you drive less than 6 miles per day and park in full sun on a slope where the solar panel has the proper orientation.

Simon

[DragBean]

Originally Posted by DragBean

My vehicle has a 250 Watt panel on top. And at 14.6V even a good battery is drawing a couple amps or so.. It becomes non-negligible when you are trying to run the entire "electronics of the" car off Solar

My goal here is not to get into arguments with people.
But if it makes little black ducky happy I changed the what I said to running the entire "electronics of the" car instead of entire car.

As far as the battery goes, the draw off the alternator onto a fresh fully charged battery is still going to be at least amp. May only amount to 1/20th to 1/10th of a hp in electrical power (that you're gaining all the time), but shedding the type of load plus 20 lbs of weight (more importantly giving me more engine bay space) is a plus I'll take.