How much does wheel weight factor in compared to wheel size? Many aftermarket 22"wheels advertise 40lbs savings over the factory 22" and depending upon tire selection you can save more (Conti extremecontact dws 06 weight 6lbs per tire less than the pirelli scorpion and 7 less than the Goodyear F1 asymmetric). So how much of a penalty would you pay with 22" that weigh less than even factory 20"?
I'm not a bicycle racer but I compete in autocross where we change wheels for many reasons but primarily to gain time.
It's a lot more complicated than just weight.
The following affect range due to wheel and tire diameter size from 20" to 22":
Absolute weight of wheel.
Distribution of weight within wheel.
Low rolling resistance of tires.
Elasticity of wheel tire combo.
Aerodynamics of wheels.
When you increase the wheel diameter you worsen the rotational distribution of weight, pushing the tire weight to the outside, reducing range.
There are few 22in LRR tires (none last time I looked) and I bet the 20in LRR are more efficient than 22in LRR tires if they ever develop some. Lack of good LRR tires in 22 reduces range.
The elasticity of the wheel tire combo decreases when you upsize the wheel. This creates more energy loss and reduces range.
Finally the aerodynamics of the wheel affect range. Most aftermarket wheels are not designed for aerodynamics. I bet the OEM wheels have better aerodynamics. You will lose range when you upsize to aftermarket wheels due to aerodynamics.
The weight of the wheel is less an effect on the highway at constant speed. The weight of the wheel has more of an effect during acceleration and braking and cornering as wheel weight affects unsprung weight. In an autocross every lb saved on the wheel saves 0.1 sec on a 60 sec autocross course. If you extrapolate that to real life, that's not a lot of range unless you are driving in the city.
In contrast the aero wheels which I had on my old MS increased range by 3% and they were super heavy, almost 30 lbs each.
LRR tires used to be an option on my old MS and they were reported to gain 3% range too compared to regular tires.
Tesla had a link explaining all this on their website but I can't find it.
Conclusion. Buying lightweight bigger wheels will mitigate one of the above disadvantages but will not affect the other causes of reduced range. You will lose range. The price we pay for good looks.
The people on this and other threads that think there is no difference in range with bigger wheels are completely deluding themselves and relying on subjective data with recall bias instead of objective data
