Old Spice
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25 miles wow that surprised me. 10% less consumption with tonneau closed.
Tesla Cybertruck's Closed Tonneau Adds 25 Miles of Range at 75 MPH
We tested the Cybertruck Beast with its roll-top bed cover open and closed at 75 mph and saw 10 percent less consumption when closed.
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a60200909/2024-tesla-cybertruck-aerodynamics-affect-range-tests/
This content is imported from Third party. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
Arguably the most surprising aspect about the Cybertruck's aerodynamics is how naturally well-suited the angular-looking aft end actually is. The rearmost flanks taper gently like some kind of raindrop, which is the most naturally aerodynamic shape. Thing is, the abrupt truncation at the tailgate is actually quite good aero-wise. Wunibald Kamm (of Kammback fame) once demonstrated that such an abrupt cut-off would essentially trick the majority of the air flowing over such a body into continuing on a laminar path, thereby reducing drag more than a smoothly rounded design might achieve.
Of course, the Cybertruck's roll-top tonneau cover is essential to all of this, so we conducted 75-mph steady state tests with the tonneau closed, open, and with the tonneau and tailgate open together to presumably create an exit for the air ācapturedā by the exposed bed. We also wondered about the effect of the wheel caps, so we repeated our tonneau-closed runs with them off.
We tested the Cybertruck's 834-hp tri-motor Beast model on 35-inch all-terrain tires, and ran it in the configurations mentioned above around a 6.6-mile oval track so we could eliminate any wind effects, which would have been significant for straight-line testing because it was a very breezy day, and we reset and recorded the truckās internal cumulative consumption meter as we passed by a fixed marker on the track. The meter outputs real-time consumption in watt-hours per mile to three digits, and we recast this number in kilowatt-hours per 100 miles, which is a more standard format of this consumption unit.
The result? Consumption averaged 58.3 kilowatt-hours per 100 miles with the tonneau closed versus 64.2 kWh/100 mi with it open. This 10 percent increase in consumption suggests our 250-mile range test result would have been 225 miles with the tonneau open. Opening the tailgate at this point didnāt represent a meaningful change, as that measured 64.0 kWh/100 mi. Meanwhile, running with the wheel covers removed and the tonneau closed amounted to a tiny loss of just 1.7 percent: 59.3 kWh/100 mi instead of 58.3 kWh/100 mi.
Aerodynamic drag obviously changes drastically with speed, so we repeated some of our runs at 65 mph. Consumption dropped from 58.3 kWh/100 miles to 49.3 with the tonneau closed. That's a 15.4 percent reduction in consumption that suggests a 65-mph range of some 295 miles. Velocity-related aero benefits are consistent across a range of configurations, so itās no surprise that our 65-mph bed-exposed run improved by a similar 15.6 percent, consuming just 54.2 kWh/100 miles at 65 mph instead of 64.2 at 75 mph.
Moral of the story: run with the tonneau closed. Itās more efficient, and the visibility ābenefitā of the inside rear-view mirror isnāt all itās cracked up to be because the view is way too pinched and slot-like. The camera system does a better job, as it turns out. And if you can run a few mph slower, do that too if you want to further boost your available range.
Tesla Cybertruck's Closed Tonneau Adds 25 Miles of Range at 75 MPH
We tested the Cybertruck Beast with its roll-top bed cover open and closed at 75 mph and saw 10 percent less consumption when closed.
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a60200909/2024-tesla-cybertruck-aerodynamics-affect-range-tests/
- The 2024 Tesla Cybertruck is more aerodynamic than it looks, and it's roll-top tonneau cover plays an essential role.
- We tested the Cybertruck with the top open and closed; the latter position provided a 10 percent improvement in consumption during our 75-mph steady state test.
- Our tests show the Cybertruck's real-world range drops from 250 to 225 miles with the top open; driven at 65 mph with the top closed, we predict a range of 295 miles.
This content is imported from Third party. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
Arguably the most surprising aspect about the Cybertruck's aerodynamics is how naturally well-suited the angular-looking aft end actually is. The rearmost flanks taper gently like some kind of raindrop, which is the most naturally aerodynamic shape. Thing is, the abrupt truncation at the tailgate is actually quite good aero-wise. Wunibald Kamm (of Kammback fame) once demonstrated that such an abrupt cut-off would essentially trick the majority of the air flowing over such a body into continuing on a laminar path, thereby reducing drag more than a smoothly rounded design might achieve.
Of course, the Cybertruck's roll-top tonneau cover is essential to all of this, so we conducted 75-mph steady state tests with the tonneau closed, open, and with the tonneau and tailgate open together to presumably create an exit for the air ācapturedā by the exposed bed. We also wondered about the effect of the wheel caps, so we repeated our tonneau-closed runs with them off.
We tested the Cybertruck's 834-hp tri-motor Beast model on 35-inch all-terrain tires, and ran it in the configurations mentioned above around a 6.6-mile oval track so we could eliminate any wind effects, which would have been significant for straight-line testing because it was a very breezy day, and we reset and recorded the truckās internal cumulative consumption meter as we passed by a fixed marker on the track. The meter outputs real-time consumption in watt-hours per mile to three digits, and we recast this number in kilowatt-hours per 100 miles, which is a more standard format of this consumption unit.
The result? Consumption averaged 58.3 kilowatt-hours per 100 miles with the tonneau closed versus 64.2 kWh/100 mi with it open. This 10 percent increase in consumption suggests our 250-mile range test result would have been 225 miles with the tonneau open. Opening the tailgate at this point didnāt represent a meaningful change, as that measured 64.0 kWh/100 mi. Meanwhile, running with the wheel covers removed and the tonneau closed amounted to a tiny loss of just 1.7 percent: 59.3 kWh/100 mi instead of 58.3 kWh/100 mi.
Aerodynamic drag obviously changes drastically with speed, so we repeated some of our runs at 65 mph. Consumption dropped from 58.3 kWh/100 miles to 49.3 with the tonneau closed. That's a 15.4 percent reduction in consumption that suggests a 65-mph range of some 295 miles. Velocity-related aero benefits are consistent across a range of configurations, so itās no surprise that our 65-mph bed-exposed run improved by a similar 15.6 percent, consuming just 54.2 kWh/100 miles at 65 mph instead of 64.2 at 75 mph.
Moral of the story: run with the tonneau closed. Itās more efficient, and the visibility ābenefitā of the inside rear-view mirror isnāt all itās cracked up to be because the view is way too pinched and slot-like. The camera system does a better job, as it turns out. And if you can run a few mph slower, do that too if you want to further boost your available range.
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