aero wheel helps with range?

This has been discussed before on TMC. You could search for "aero wheel".

It's hard to know how much those wheels add to range due to the difficulty of testing a car with and a car without them over exactly the same route in the same weather conditions and using the same tires with the battery in each car at the same state of charge and the two drivers driving exactly the same. The likely range increase is very small, maybe one or two percent at most. I suspect it is less than 1%, but I am only guessing.

No2DinosaurFuel said:

I was wondering if aero wheels help with range significantly or slightly? Some of the CPO tesla have aero wheels. I am not so much of an aesthetic person so i really don't car about looks. I do care about functionality. If the aero wheel can help me extend my highway range all the way to 270 miles using a p85, then i think it will be worth the penalty i take in the looks!
Anyone here have experience on the aero wheel and range?

Click to expand...

Tesla used to quote up to 5% range increase. That will vary base on your driving style of course.

"Aerodynamic 19” wheels are designed to reduce wind resistance. Disc-like in shape, they channel air along the sides of the vehicle and can add up to 5% range during highway driving."

Click to expand...

Here is a a datapoint: I originally had 21" turbine wheels with Continental summer tires on my P85. After 17,000 miles, I was at 290 Wh/mi (lifetime). I then switched to Aero wheels and Michelin Primacy tires. I am currently at 51,000 miles and 289 Wh/mi (lifetime). 60% of the driving is mountains with an average speed of 55mph; 20% is highway with an average of 75mph; the rest is city with an average of about 35mph.

Based on my driving patterns, the Aero wheels have not made a big difference. Biggest advantages for me now vs. 21" turbine wheels is that they are easy to clean and provide a better ride.

Many many tests have been done with "aero wheels". The effect depends on the car, driving speed and of course the design of the wheel. The idea is to have a close rim with a smooth surface. Tests I have found show a difference of 4-7% in energy usage. The Tesla wheels are not completely closed. On highway speeds the difference should be on the lower end of that. The effect is based on aerodynamics which is due to the laws of physics very dependent on speed. Double the speed creased 4 times the wind drag. So when doing tests the speed is really the key. So saying the aero wheels save 4% of energy isn't really possible without knowing what the typical driving speed is.

My data point. Started with standard 19" wheels and drove 10339 miles using 2707 kWh or 262 Wh/mi this included one Atlanta Winter season. Got the aero wheels and transferred my original tires to the new wheels and have driven another 10627 miles using 2518 kWh or 237 Wh/mi thru the end of March 2015. The aero wheels have been used thru 2 Atlanta Winter seasons. I can not say all of that improvement is due to the aero wheels.

I'd also Iike to point out that unless you literally drive 55mph you not see 270 on a P85. I just did a Seattle area to Portland with drop off of my kids on the way. 255 rated miles and got 258 actual miles with 17 rated miles left when pulling in to SC in Woodburn.
We have 19's with primary's (most of the time) and drove 5 over the speed limit. Even with 17 rated miles I may have eked out 5 more miles.