Does only wheel weight influence range?

[Oqy72]

If I buy 21-inch wheels with a lower weight than the standard 20-inch, does the range increase?
Or are there other factors that influence the range?

I am aware of all the other consequences of larger wheels. This is only about range.

Thank you!

 

[SSedan]

The rim weight is grossly over fixated on here.
Aerodynamics matters some.
The real big culprit that I see the vast majority of people here ignore is the tire rolling resistance. Even if a tire is marketed as the same model that does not guarantee the same rolling resistance.
They don't give us a rolling resistance number when tire shopping. You can maybe infer a little something from treadwear rating BUT only if comparing within a brand because that number is not an industry wide standard.

As a general rule as the sidewall shrinks the tire gets to be more performance oriented with a softer sticker rubber, this is the real range killer.

If it were weight of the tire/rim package people would notice the range hit in town where you are accelerating that weight repeatedly, but steady state cruise on the highway would be relatively unaffected.

From a.physics perspective the further weight is from center the bigger difference it makes, so there again fixation on the rim diameter and weight misses the mark.

 

[Oqy72]

The rim weight is grossly over fixated on here.
Aerodynamics matters some.
The real big culprit that I see the vast majority of people here ignore is the tire rolling resistance. Even if a tire is marketed as the same model that does not guarantee the same rolling resistance.
They don't give us a rolling resistance number when tire shopping. You can maybe infer a little something from treadwear rating BUT only if comparing within a brand because that number is not an industry wide standard.

As a general rule as the sidewall shrinks the tire gets to be more performance oriented with a softer sticker rubber, this is the real range killer.

If it were weight of the tire/rim package people would notice the range hit in town where you are accelerating that weight repeatedly, but steady state cruise on the highway would be relatively unaffected.

From a.physics perspective the further weight is from center the bigger difference it makes, so there again fixation on the rim diameter and weight misses the mark.

Thank you. So I guess I'll be going for light 21 inch wheels with max low resistance tires for minimum impact.

 

[SSedan]

Wheel aerodynamics play a roll in high speed efficiency too. Hence the slipstreams vs the original twin spokes on the S.

 

[mswlogo]

Thank you. So I guess I'll be going for light 21 inch wheels with max low resistance tires for minimum impact.

Keep in mind though that the lowest rolling resistance tires tends to have the worst braking and wet handling. Also the larger the rim tends to narrow your choices. Tesla tends to pick tires that are a balance between grip and efficiency on the smaller rims and more about traction/grip than efficiency as the rim size goes up. Which is why the large “rims” get a bad rap.