Model S Rooftop Cargo Carrier?

[arisythila]

Did a quick search and didn't see anything. So I apologize ahead of time.

I am planning on doing quite a bit of traveling this coming year all over the United States, and Canada. Now I've got 6 people in my family. So using up quite a bit of cargo room just in passangers. so I decided to look at getting a roof cargo carrier.

Obviously. the less wind resistance is best. But Has anybody found an awesome carrier that doesn't cut back greatly on the miles on a charge?

Thanks,

 

[BerTX]

I am not aware of an aerodynamic rooftop carrier. There are some that are pointy on the front to make buyers believe they produce less drag, but they would actually probably be more aerodynamic if people mounted them backwards with the pointy end in the back.

Bottom line is, you are going to lose around 25℅ of your range with a rooftop carrier, even more if you expect to run at higher speeds. But I have never used one on a Tesla, and there is bound to be someone who has who will chime in.

 

[arisythila]

Thanks BerTX!

I picked up the WhisperBars the other day and have not installed them yet... I am thinking about looking at a carrier and just grabbing it, installing it, and seeing what I can get on average around town, maybe take a long trip to see if I can get a decent mount of miles (At lease enough to go SC to SC.

I'll keep you guys posted.

Thanks,

 

[CORDIUM]

Thanks BerTX!

I picked up the WhisperBars the other day and have not installed them yet... I am thinking about looking at a carrier and just grabbing it, installing it, and seeing what I can get on average around town, maybe take a long trip to see if I can get a decent mount of miles (At lease enough to go SC to SC.

I'll keep you guys posted.

Thanks,

Hi arisythila. I'm planning a cross country road trip as well. Model S will be full of people and a dog (sounds fun, right?). Curious to know about any results you found in your experience with the roof carrier. I've narrowed my search down to a couple of Thule carriers (Force or Hyper). I'd like to know which carrier you ended up choosing. Thx.

 

[MocosMan]

Arisythila - I installed the Whispbar roof rack with the Whispbar ski rack - put four pairs of skiis on the roof along with 4 people and a car full of ski gear and drove on a windy cold day. Range did drop - my 250 miles of charge would take me about 190 miles but it's hard to say how much was roof rack and how much the cold. I do think the Whispbar is high quality and their roof cargo box looks very aerodynamic from the pix.

 

[PQL]

I have used a large Yakima carrier. Winter for carrying skis. I lose range in winter without it any way. I haven't tracked percentages but 25% feels about what it is like. It seems to make little difference below 40 mph. Above that it seems to go up exponentially with speed. The first time I used it was very alarming but I am used to it now. That said, I will now do whatever I can to not use it.