Drafting (7) behind a U-Haul made ~60 wh/mi difference

[scottf200]

Long weekend helping a friend. Drove him from Chicago suburb to Erie PA on Sat using auto-pilot and traveling mostly 70 MPH (see red). On Monday, I followed him as he traveled in the small U-Haul without cruise control and driving mostly 65 MPH. I was following him using auto-pilot on the 7 setting (see yellow). MAJOR difference even at 7 and much more than the 5 MPH difference.

335.93 wh/mi average on way there
276.28 wh/mi average on way back
_59.65 wh/mi difference

 

[GordonBremer]

See the posting: Model X Range Improvement Due to Drafting & Suspension Setting

 

[shokunin]

Well there's also headwind that needs to be considered. Wind direction typically provides a bit of tailwind if you're heading east and headwind on your return going west.

 

[scottf200]

See the posting: Model X Range Improvement Due to Drafting & Suspension Setting

Thanks. Saw that. Mine "test" was 500 miles tho and not 5 miles so I thought it was worth posting along with my screen capture.

 

[cmc5dc]

Long weekend helping a friend. Drove him from Chicago suburb to Erie PA on Sat using auto-pilot and traveling mostly 70 MPH (see red). On Monday, I followed him as he traveled in the small U-Haul without cruise control and driving mostly 65 MPH. I was following him using auto-pilot on the 7 setting (see yellow). MAJOR difference even at 7 and much more than the 5 MPH difference.

335.93 wh/mi average on way there
276.28 wh/mi average on way back
_59.65 wh/mi difference

Could it have been you were going at a.slight incine to and returning at a slight decline? Would be nice to confirm any elevation on that particular route by using the website.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

You also had a 5 MPH reduction in speed, which helped

 

[ptsagcy]

I wouldn't accept the difference as due to drafting. A setting of 7 is too far behind to realize much, if any, drafting advantage. More likely the speed difference or other conditions such as elevation change, temperature and wind. I just completed a round trip from NJ to Alexandria, VA - both ways going 75mph most of the way, with AP, and saw a difference of almost 40 wh/mi - much better southbound. Temps were 10 degrees higher northbound but otherwise everything was pretty much the same. According to EVTripPlanner elevation drops 249' southbound and gains 249' northbound. So, it would appear that the difference was due to the greater temp and elevation change. Draw your own conclusions.

 

[scottf200]

I wouldn't accept the difference as due to drafting. A setting of 7 is too far behind to realize much, if any, drafting advantage. More likely the speed difference or other conditions such as elevation change, temperature and wind. I just completed a round trip from NJ to Alexandria, VA - both ways going 75mph most of the way, with AP, and saw a difference of almost 40 wh/mi - much better southbound. Temps were 10 degrees higher northbound but otherwise everything was pretty much the same. According to EVTripPlanner elevation drops 249' southbound and gains 249' northbound. So, it would appear that the difference was due to the greater temp and elevation change. Draw your own conclusions.

I have 15K miles on my 6 month old X and several roadtrips. I've *never* seen wh/mile as low as when I followed the U-Haul. Also did you see @GordonBremer testing he pointed to in the above thread link above? See underlined.

Summary Results at 65 MPH : Drafting at any TACC setting (1-7) improved range 5%. (Difference between settings 1 & 7 was surprisingly and negligibly small.) Lowering suspension from LOW to VERY LOW improved range 4%. (These may not be additive.) For a fully-charged (250 mile) battery, drafting and suspension could add as much as 22 miles.