I'll be taking delivery of my MY LR in the next few weeks. Just wondering what to expect when we take a weekend road trip with 4 total adults + small luggage. Will I notice a significant drop in efficiency/range with the added weight?
Cargo Weight's Effect on Range
- Thread starter SD419
- Start date
Jedibryan
Member
I recently took a small road trip with 4 adults in the vehicle and the cargo area relatively full. Usually when I drive it's just me, or me andmy 2 children. I definitely noticed a difference in how the vehicle drove. It felt 'heavier' for sure. I didn't notice any significant reduction in range or efficiency though. When I plugged the extra weight in ABRP it said I only lost about 1% in range from the extra 700+ lbs of weight I estimated in the vehicle.
At a constant speed the “friction” forces that the motor has to over come are rolling resistance, friction in the power train to the wheels and drag. Of those three, only rolling resistance is a really a big function of the car’s weight. At highway speeds the drag on the car is significantly more than rolling resistance (several times more). Unless you do a lot of stop and go / accelerating or drive at low speeds (< ~25mph) the range of the car is effectively independent of the weight of the car at long distances.
Doing a similar road trip and I plan on going no more then 200 miles between charges. I figured it leaves me with a decent reserve so far hard to see a route I can't do that.
Yeah. I'm leaving Oceanside with planned charging stops in Redondo Beach, Goleta, and San Luis Obispo before finishing in Cambria. I'll also hop over to Atascadero at some point
