Increasing range by going with skinny tires?

[bondo]

I'm tired of pulling over every 150 miles to juice up i'm around 310 wh/m. Running an AWD with oem 19"s, tread is about half gone and i'll be looking for tires maybe in a year and with all the post on range lately...

Has anyone run skinny tires on a oem 19" and gotten an appreciable increase in range?
Maybe 225/40 R19 or 225/45 R19 ? Maybe other solutions?

Not solutions:

• sweating or freezing while driving. i like my ac.
• driving 65mph drafting behind a truck while it spits rocks at me
• buying new martian rims and tires for +2k to save pennies on electricity.

 

[Mash]

Tire compound, design and pressure will have significantly more savings in rolling resistance than going 4% narrower. It's even possible that going narrower than stock would not save anything at all.

 

[MasterC17]

Tire compound, design and pressure will have significantly more savings in rolling resistance than going 8% narrower. It's even possible that going narrower than stock would not save anything at all.

This. Rolling resistance is 90% the tire, and 10% the width. Finding the lowest rolling resistance tire will make the biggest difference.

If cost is a concern and you are OK with the looks, the stock 18's are hands down the most efficient wheel and tire package especially with aero covers on and you can buy a like new set for cheap. If you think they're super ugly then keep the 19's.

 

[byeLT4]

Unfortunately even with a beneficial tire change you will still be looking at pulling over every 155-165 miles. I'm sure the manufacturer went with some fairly efficient tires. While it would be awesome to gain 50+ miles with a tire swap, that would be a huge 'dropped ball' on Tesla's part

 

[SSedan]

I will second the 18" aero wheels, but again this won't be a huge difference.

On your comment about $2k wheels, wheel weight is an issue where repeated acceleration is at play. For highway range aerodynamics are a bigger factor. Aero is at play for hours on end while due to fairly steady speed weight of the wheel is a non-factor.

Shaving wheel weight may pay dividends where repeated acceleration is in play and traffic makes you use friction brakes reducing regen effectiveness.

 

[bondo]

It was just food for thought and i was hoping someone had first hand experience with it.

Ideally if i could actually get ~3 hours of driving or +240 miles, i'd be happy with that. I need 20% more efficiency to be comfortable. Currently 60000 / 310 = 193mi Keeping all the "factors" (rolling resistance, etc)basically the same; a 4% skinnier tire with an increased circumference of 1.9% could yield +5% in range. There are Pilot 4S's and the DWS 06 in the sizes mentioned and a few other eco-focused models but i have no experience with any of these tires. Just seems so close...

As for getting 18's i could though the wife factor is in play, i have race/play tires already so i'd have another set of "ugly" tires laying about to go with my other toys...

 

[SSedan]

It was just food for thought and i was hoping someone had first hand experience with it.

Ideally if i could actually get ~3 hours of driving or +240 miles, i'd be happy with that. I need 20% more efficiency to be comfortable. Currently 60000 / 310 = 193mi Keeping all the "factors" (rolling resistance, etc)basically the same; a 4% skinnier tire with an increased circumference of 1.9% could yield +5% in range. There are Pilot 4S's and the DWS 06 in the sizes mentioned and a few other eco-focused models but i have no experience with any of these tires. Just seems so close...

As for getting 18's i could though the wife factor is in play, i have race/play tires already so i'd have another set of "ugly" tires laying about to go with my other toys...

Why do you think increased circumference will increase range?

 

[bondo]

Why do you think increased circumference will increase range?

My laymans brain thinks...since we have no gears the motors spin less with a larger circumference tire to travel the same distance as a smaller tire. less revolutions = less energy NOT including load.(jack rabbit starts, towing, up hill etc)

 

[Mash]

My laymans brain thinks...since we have no gears the motors spin less with a larger circumference tire to travel the same distance as a smaller tire. less revolutions = less energy NOT including load.(jack rabbit starts, towing, up hill etc)

That's not how it works. Less revolutions, but higher torque need.

Also, forget 4S if you want range.

 

[FlyNavy01]

It was just food for thought and i was hoping someone had first hand experience with it.

Ideally if i could actually get ~3 hours of driving or +240 miles, i'd be happy with that. I need 20% more efficiency to be comfortable. Currently 60000 / 310 = 193mi Keeping all the "factors" (rolling resistance, etc)basically the same; a 4% skinnier tire with an increased circumference of 1.9% could yield +5% in range. There are Pilot 4S's and the DWS 06 in the sizes mentioned and a few other eco-focused models but i have no experience with any of these tires. Just seems so close...

As for getting 18's i could though the wife factor is in play, i have race/play tires already so i'd have another set of "ugly" tires laying about to go with my other toys...

Where are you getting 60000 from? The AWD Model 3 has ~74kwh of usable capacity. 74000/310=239 miles, which is about what I get in my P3D with much wider than stock tires.

 

[lbowroom]

Weird. I made Orange County to Baker, 183mi with 12% to spare with 285’s on the rear and 245’s on the front last summer driving 80mph.

 

[bondo]

Where are you getting 60000 from? The AWD Model 3 has ~74kwh of usable capacity. 74000/310=239 miles, which is about what I get in my P3D with much wider than stock tires.

60000 is a rough number for a 90% soc going down to 10%, or a 80% soc on the road on a busy supercharger.

 

[MasterC17]

Pilot Sport 4S is a great tire - bad choice for range. With the 18" Aero's and Michelin MXM4's I bet you would see consumption drop 10% - 15% all else being equal from the 19's with the Conti's. And yes - you can get 50 miles more range on the 18's over the 20's with the PS4S on a 100% charge. This isn't a mistake by Tesla, it's a compromise, such is the case with all tires. The trade off to more rolling resistance is shorter braking distances, more grip, increased tread width, and sharper steering response.

 

[XLR82XS]

FWIW I'm planning to replace OE tires with Continential PureContact LS. Decent price, EcoPlus, good reviews. Perfect all-season tire for my daily driving needs in the 3.

 

[MountainPass]

If you haven't already, check out our video about maximizing your range and try those steps before going crazy with tires!

 

[bondo]

If you haven't already, check out our video about maximizing your range and try those steps before going crazy with tires!

Would you happen to have a link? Looked around but all i saw was that "We the North" stuff which was just wrong.

thx
"still bitter by the bay"

i know its not 310wh/m, its the road trips that raise my wh/m

 

[MountainPass]

Would you happen to have a link? Looked around but all i saw was that "We the North" stuff which was just wrong.

thx
"still bitter by the bay"

View attachment 575630
i know its not 310wh/m, its the road trips that raise my wh/m

Sorry

 

[Gasaraki]

bigger wheels don't increase the size of the wheels and tires. Bigger wheels just have less sidewall. If you really throw the ratio off, then you have other issues to deal with.

Also as others have said, if you get performance tires, you will lose range. If you want efficiency, you have to look for the 'eco' tires. They are for hybrids and EVs to maximize range and have lower rolling resistance.

 

[untilcomplete]

You’re also going to mess up your braking distance going with skinny tires.

 

[GLM3]

You’re also going to mess up your braking distance going with skinny tires.

Nope. You might mess with maximum cornering, but if anything it should improve braking. Going with skinnier tires changes the contact patch to favoring braking and acceleration at the expense of cornering.