Does altering the wheel of your electric vehicle hampers its range? How much more range will a Tesla model 3 gain with an 18-inch wheel than a 20-inch wheel? Does that change with a different electric car model such as Model S or Model X? Engineering Explained answers all these questions in the following video.
The video analyzes how a tire’s width, rolling assistance, and wheel size affect an electric car. You are in for a surprise as upon knowing you would be amazed by how much these things really affect the overall performance and the effect of these changed components on your car in the longer run.
People tend to take altering their vehicle’s tires lightly, and often the reason is to make their car look more fashionable. However, they don’t realize that it is the only thing touching the road, hence making obvious the impact.
In this sense, indeed, the size really does matter. As installing big wheels to your car could put significant damage to your available range.
One of the reasons behind the decreased range with wider tires is that they tend to increase the car’s frontal area, increasing the vehicle’s aerodynamic drag.
It’s the owner’s choice whether he wants more range to the car or more grip, as one plus the wider tires offer is a better grip.
Electric cars usually come equipped with specialized low-rolling-resistance tires to increase efficiency. As per Fenske’s calculations, the disparity between these tires and less-efficient high-performance tires is equal to 53 miles of range over 200 miles.
Hence, the stickier tires could make your electric car handle better; they may come with a significant range penalty. Learn more about Fenske’s finding on the subject and a much prevalent question on the internet answered for you to know it all. Tune in!
