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Roof box on Model 3

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Envchem

Envchem

Member
Nov 13, 2019
275
201
Liverpool, UK
#1
Hi guys,

I hope you are all well. As the title says I am about to go for holidays for 10 days and having a toddler and a baby I am pretty sure that we will not be able to accommodate all our belongings in the boot/froot.
I do have the Tesla roof racks and I was thinking of getting a roof box.
Any of you guys using one? Any recommendations? I was thinking of getting the Thule Motion Xt XL. Do you think it is too big for a 3?

By the way i have read the horror stories about the racks cracking the glass etc. I have installed them twice already and run on them on the car for about two months (geek in me wanted to see effect on consumption) with no issues.

Thanks for any help/suggestions.
 
#4
Envchem said:
Hi. Yes I was a bit surprised too. I saw that article but I am a bit sceptical to be honest. Would that cause any problems? All that air pressure on the boxy part? Last think I would like is for the roof box to open on the motorway ;)
Click to expand...
Make sure you lock it shut!haha
Would have thought it would be fine but only one way to find out....
 
#5
Sooo I ordered a Thule Motion Xt XL roofbox. I found some info online that it has been used on top of Model 3s in the States with no issues whatsoever. What I am planning to do now is to put it on the car on Friday (delivery is Thursday) and do all my commute with it next week. I am doing 115 miles per day so i should have enough data to produce reliable data on extra consumption. I will keep you posted.
 
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#6
Envchem said:
Sooo I ordered a Thule Motion Xt XL roofbox. I found some info online that it has been used on top of Model 3s in the States with no issues whatsoever. What I am planning to do now is to put it on the car on Friday (delivery is Thursday) and do all my commute with it next week. I am doing 115 miles per day so i should have enough data to produce reliable data on extra consumption. I will keep you posted.
Click to expand...

Great choice. I love it on my car! And it doesn't look bad either for a roof box:

IMG_0143.jpeg
 
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#8
Out of spec motoring on youtube are currently crisscrossing the USA in a Tesla model 3, two people, two large ish dogs and the tesla chock a block full of gear, they have a roof box on thiers too - a Yakima Grand Tour 16 and it seems to work for them, have a watch of thier roadtrip videos they put up W per mile rand range per charge etc so you can see if a roof box is good for you - FWIW they stated on the videos they were impressed about how little the range is affected by the roof box.
 
#9
fancealot said:
Out of spec motoring on youtube are currently crisscrossing the USA in a Tesla model 3, two people, two large ish dogs and the tesla chock a block full of gear, they have a roof box on thiers too - a Yakima Grand Tour 16 and it seems to work for them, have a watch of thier roadtrip videos they put up W per mile rand range per charge etc so you can see if a roof box is good for you - FWIW they stated on the videos they were impressed about how little the range is affected by the roof box.
Click to expand...

It has some affect, but my big wheels (staggered) have a bigger affect than the box. And all things considered, "winter is coming" and here in Switzerland I typically see a 30-35% loss in range due to freezing temps which is much worse than a roof box. ;-) I just go with the flow (haha) and charge when I need to. I do my best to keep range reducing things in check, but I also like a good looking car. Some roof boxes out there look like absolute crap and cheap.
 
#12
Hi mate. No issues what so ever. I had it used four times so far.
Taking on and off the roof bars is dead easy. Just need to be careful positioning the metal holders but if you lift the glass seals you can even see where the holders on the roof are and do a proper alignment.
Taking the roof box is a two person job. Quite heavy to maneuver alone and you dont really want to drop it on a glass roof :)
Car behavior on the road unchanged. A bit of extra noise going over 65 but to be expected.
Roof bars alone dont affect consumption almost at all. With roofbox I got around 20-30% which I can leave with.
 
#13
Envchem said:
Hi mate. No issues what so ever. I had it used four times so far.
Taking on and off the roof bars is dead easy. Just need to be careful positioning the metal holders but if you lift the glass seals you can even see where the holders on the roof are and do a proper alignment.
Taking the roof box is a two person job. Quite heavy to maneuver alone and you dont really want to drop it on a glass roof :)
Car behavior on the road unchanged. A bit of extra noise going over 65 but to be expected.
Roof bars alone dont affect consumption almost at all. With roofbox I got around 20-30% which I can leave with.
Click to expand...
Tried putting it on backwards? Apparently that's more aerodynamic
 
#15
Envchem said:
Hi mate. No issues what so ever. I had it used four times so far.
...
Click to expand...
same here after we followed Envchem's example.
Envchem said:
With roofbox I got around 20-30% which I can leave with.
Click to expand...
Hmmm... that seems a bit off to us. We haven't actually noticed any decrease in performance even with three kids in and a fully loaded box. However, we usually sit at 60 on motorways or ideally 56 behind a lorry.
 
#17
m3p_uk said:
Tried putting it on backwards? Apparently that's more aerodynamic
Click to expand...
Not sure I'd try it with the shape of the back of that one - looks like it might increase lifting pressure on the leading edge. Probably fine really, but less neutral than some.

We have something like this https://www.roofbox.co.uk/scripts/r...tt_black_roof_box_left_side_opening_no_km445/ and it is measurably more efficient on backwards, but it does look dumb, and the difference isnt that much. 373 wh/mile forwards, 363 backwards. Not enough to skip an SC really.
 
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