Dumb question. I'm driving my MYLR around Denver with a ski rack in 16 degree weather. Was seeing 485 wh/mi. Have the ski rack on because I'm driving to the mountains tomorrow, but this consumption is giving me range anxiety. Have not driven in weather this cold before. My question is this: how much of this consumption is due to the temperature, and how much is due to the ski rack? I have a Thule SnowPack rack for reference.
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Cold weather or ski rack?
- Thread starter friscomelt314
- Start date
A ski rack will make your air resistance worse. I remember a reputable magazine testing them on ICE cars many years ago and just having the two "bars" without anything attached cost 10% more fuel on the highway. If you have actual skis on there it will be worse than that.
Cold weather affects your consumption in multiple ways: you need to heat your car interior which uses quite a bit of energy, the air you are going through is more dense so you need more energy to push through it, so it's worse at highway speeds. Additionally, if the road has any snow on it, pushing through the snow takes additional energy.
Since it's cold and the air is denser, the effect of your ski rack will be worse than if you were just using the rack in the summer... These things combine
Cold weather affects your consumption in multiple ways: you need to heat your car interior which uses quite a bit of energy, the air you are going through is more dense so you need more energy to push through it, so it's worse at highway speeds. Additionally, if the road has any snow on it, pushing through the snow takes additional energy.
Since it's cold and the air is denser, the effect of your ski rack will be worse than if you were just using the rack in the summer... These things combine
ATPMSD
Active Member
Slow down!
Seriously, if you drive fast that will increase consumption a lot. As to heating, if you do not have a heat put in the car, worse case is the heater will consume about 6 kWh per hour. At 60 MPH this is about 100 wh/mi and at 30 MPH it is about 200 wh/mi - but this assumes it is running max heat all the time, which it is not doing. If you do have a heat pump then heating does not consume anywhere near as much and most of your consumption is due to speed, changes in elevation, wind and added drag of the racks. Some is also lost in keeping the battery warm, I believe (?), but I have no metrics on that.Similar threads
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