Hubcaps / wheel covers for more range?

[VAF84]

Tesla Cybertruck did it; is it worth it for the LER? They don't look too bad either. I saw a report where you can see there's a lot of drag produced at the wheels. I was wondering if hubs would help reduce that.

The reason for this is I was wondering if there's any way to try and offset the drag and range loss of a leveling kit and 33's, by purchasing lightweight racing wheels. The stock weight is about 78lbs? The racing wheels would be about 38lbs in 20's.

Alternatively, I wonder if they'd be useful for long trips, as I do a lot of highway driving.

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[invertedspear]

I think weight is only really an issue when it comes to overcoming inertia, once you're at speed on the highway, aero is the biggest factor. So if the racing wheels + hubcaps have better drag coefficients than the stock wheels, then yeah, it would be useful, but I wouldn't know how to test/calculate any of this without just trying it. If you got the money, do the experiment and show the differences it makes. preferably with hundreds of miles worth of sample data with each set of wheels.

I wouldn't mind throwing hubcaps on for road trips, and taking them off when running around town. Actually seems like it would be a great compromise.

 

[Zaptor]

Yes, unsprung weight reduction is a big deal, and will make your vehicle accelerate faster, ride better, and increase range, and yes, aero and weight of the wheels is significant as well; the main reason the Platinum is rated at 300 while a Lariat or XLT ER gets 320 is those big, heavy 22s.

I did a wheel swap on my truck (Lariat ER) for style, and the offroad tires I put on are probably an even bigger factor in my minor range reduction, but if your goal is further/faster, then yes, absolutely lighter wheels will help, as will NOT putting aggressive tires on these trucks.

I *did* perform a lightweight wheel swap on our Tesla Model Y Performance though; went from the stupid and heavy 21" OEM wheel (38 lbs) to T-Sportline 18" wheels (22 lbs) and a YouTuber who performed the same swap saw 0-60 drop from 3.5 seconds (already very quick) to 3.2 seconds which is more 'performance' than you will find in any other EV mods I am aware of.

I can feel the seat-of-my-pants difference in the Y and the ride quality improvement is night-and-day better. I imagine there would be a similar advantage to weight reduction on our trucks, it's just physics.

 

[csukoh78]

Tesla Cybertruck did it; is it worth it for the LER? They don't look too bad either. I saw a report where you can see there's a lot of drag produced at the wheels. I was wondering if hubs would help reduce that.

The reason for this is I was wondering if there's any way to try and offset the drag and range loss of a leveling kit and 33's, by purchasing lightweight racing wheels. The stock weight is about 78lbs? The racing wheels would be about 38lbs in 20's.

Alternatively, I wonder if they'd be useful for long trips, as I do a lot of highway driving.

Weight is a huge factor in stop and go traffic as overcoming the inertia and rotating heavy wheels and tires drains energy.

Once the tires are rolling and you're traveling close to highway speed, aerodynamics take over and is a huge factor with aerodynamic drag and turbulence created by rough air from non-smooth wheels.

The best compromise is going to be a forged, flat faced wheel that is lightweight and aerodynamic.

I have been religiously searching for this exact thing, and there just isn't one yet. At least not without paying $2800 per wheel.

I got a verified 10% average range increase over 9000 miles with the venomRex wheels, specifically VR – 601. They are 28 pounds and I got a 13 pound weight loss per corner. Plus they look fantastic. However, range goes back to normal (2.2) on prolonged interstate travel because they chop the air and create increased the drag by disturbing the airflow down the side of the vehicle compared to the OEM wheels. But, the OEM wheels are heavy.

Considering all those things, I am going to go with a forged wheel that weighs 29 pounds and has six broad spokes that will provide a nearly flat face for aerodynamics, and is an 11 pound weight loss compared to the OEM wheel. I feel this is the best possible compromise considering.

 

[On the Road with Ralph]

Huh... this seems like a problem that deserves a solution, or two. 1) How tough could it be to create a plastic hubcap that clips onto the existing wheel and improves its aero performance? As someone who drives his Lightning at highway speeds A LOT, I would pay for a simple mod that gave me 4%-8% more range at 70 mph. 2) More difficult, but still worthy, would be a wheel that combined lower weight with great aero. I know from decades of bike riding that rotating weight matters; as one previous commenter said, it is just physics. Hey aftermarket guys - tune in!

 

[Grumpy2]

The heavy trucks have a bolt in flat wheel cover design. I was excited about, until I priced them.

 

[GoodSam]

ride quality improvement is night-and-day better

Weight is a huge factor in stop and go traffic

worthy, would be a wheel that combined lower weight

I read somewhere that tires with more sidewall are more efficient, so smaller wheels with tall tires would be best? Or is it just weight reduction with more tire and less wheel? Carbon fiber wheels for the win? https://www.carbonrev.com/wheels/

 

[Henry Ford]

The reason for this is I was wondering if there's any way to try and offset the drag and range loss of a leveling kit and 33's, by purchasing lightweight racing wheels. The stock weight is about 78lbs? The racing wheels would be about 38lbs in 20's.

1. If you leveled your truck and put on 33" tires you don't care about range.

2. If you really want to find out, tape up your existing wheels and let us know what it does for your efficiency.

 

[csukoh78]

1. If you leveled your truck and put on 33" tires you don't care about range.

2. If you really want to find out, tape up your existing wheels and let us know what it does for your efficiency.

agree 100%. Lifting the front 2 inches on my ICE caused a 15-20% loss in MPG. It is easily one of the worst things you can do for efficiency

 

[VAF84]

Weight is a huge factor in stop and go traffic as overcoming the inertia and rotating heavy wheels and tires drains energy.

Once the tires are rolling and you're traveling close to highway speed, aerodynamics take over and is a huge factor with aerodynamic drag and turbulence created by rough air from non-smooth wheels.

The best compromise is going to be a forged, flat faced wheel that is lightweight and aerodynamic.

I have been religiously searching for this exact thing, and there just isn't one yet. At least not without paying $2800 per wheel.

I got a verified 10% average range increase over 9000 miles with the venomRex wheels, specifically VR – 601. They are 28 pounds and I got a 13 pound weight loss per corner. Plus they look fantastic. However, range goes back to normal (2.2) on prolonged interstate travel because they chop the air and create increased the drag by disturbing the airflow down the side of the vehicle compared to the OEM wheels. But, the OEM wheels are heavy.

Considering all those things, I am going to go with a forged wheel that weighs 29 pounds and has six broad spokes that will provide a nearly flat face for aerodynamics, and is an 11 pound weight loss compared to the OEM wheel. I feel this is the best possible compromise considering.

Great info, thanks for sharing the wheels you used, I'm going to look into them. If you don't mind sharing an update if you get the ones with the bigger spokes, it'd be appreciated!

1. If you leveled your truck and put on 33" tires you don't care about range.

2. If you really want to find out, tape up your existing wheels and let us know what it does for your efficiency.

agree 100%. Lifting the front 2 inches on my ICE caused a 15-20% loss in MPG. It is easily one of the worst things you can do for efficiency

1. Yes and No.... I'm wondering if the the combo of the hubs and lighter wheels is enough to offset the LER's range loss with the level and bigger tires; as range is important to me. I will not make any mods to reduce current range; however if there was a way to offset the losses I'd consider it. I've read about the current losses for those who have made those upgrades (level/wheels). Having said that, it seems like maybe using CSUKOH78's lighter wheels with 33's may be enough to offset the losses of the bigger tires, but it leaves the losses due from aero from a level. Still, it would be cool if you could have a snap on front valence that can be added for longer roadtrips for aero that would drop 2 or 3 in lower... sort of like the F250's have on their front end.

Still, the idea of snap on hub caps would be great. I routinely drive 400-1000 miles, and any increase in range with temporary bolt on's is welcome. Anything to reduce the extra 5-6 hours I've added each way for charging. I even considered the fastback truckbed cover, but definitely not paying $7k for something like that.

 

[Henry Ford]

If you are interested in buying something to improve efficiency save your money. I am confident Ford did everything feasible to maximize efficiency. Any changes you make will be equal to stock at best and more than likely worse.

If you squint hard enough you can see a world where solid wheel covers make some kind of improvement. I wouldn't spend actual money to figure it out. As I mentioned above, you can find out if it works by taping up your current wheels.

 

[WhiteBolt]

Maybe this company can make these for Lightnings......
https://www.mooneyesusa.com/product-p/md1800t3.htm

 

[Monkey]

The Lariat wheels (also on the XLT ER) are pretty aerodynamic as is. I don't think a hub cap is going to improve anything. Lighter wheels would make a much larger difference, but not sure how much without considering the whole wheel/tire combo in terms of mass and aero.

All things considered, it's a pickup truck and has the aerodynamic prowess of a brick. Also why the ugly ass Cybertruck can have a slightly smaller HVB than the Lightning ER, larger more aggressive AT tires and get about the same range. The angular stealth fighter front end has much lower drag at highway speed vs. the F150. As for the wheel covers, Tesla is having issues with them and is currently redesigning. Not sure how much they help vs. if they had just designed a more aerodynamic flat-faced wheel to begin with. And most wheels still require some degree of airflow to minimize thermal buildup around the brakes. Not as important on an EV with the regenerative braking. Could be a concern if you tow through the mountains regularly... Although, when you're towing, wheel covers are not going to make one bit of difference with all that drag behind you.

You'll probably gain more efficiency by lowering your average highway speed by 0.5 mph than any wheel covers are going to give you.

 

[VAF84]

Sigh, physics can be depressing. I guess at the end of the day there's just no substitute for just needing bigger batteries and faster charging if you don't want to sacrifice speed, function, and style; unless one wants go back to an ICE vehicle.

Look forward to the days that one can maintain 75-80mph for 300 miles without stopping, and tow about 8k lbs for 250 miles without stopping. That basically means a 250kw battery is what it will take to be able to match the full use of a regular half ton pickup. Along with that some consistent 350kwh DC fast charging network with the capability of the vehicle at peak charging at least at 280kwh.

 

[csukoh78]

Sigh, physics can be depressing. I guess at the end of the day there's just no substitute for just needing bigger batteries and faster charging if you don't want to sacrifice speed, function, and style; unless one wants go back to an ICE vehicle.

Look forward to the days that one can maintain 75-80mph for 300 miles without stopping, and tow about 8k lbs for 250 miles without stopping. That basically means a 250kw battery is what it will take to be able to match the full use of a regular half ton pickup. Along with that some consistent 350kwh DC fast charging network with the capability of the vehicle at peak charging at least at 280kwh.

Sacrifices have to be made if you want your great, great, great grandchildren to enjoy things like grass and clean air. You can only do what you can do.
Personally my truck "trucks" just fine and I love the smooth quiet rush of speed and torque.

remember, real men do what's right, even when no one is looking, or getting backlash and criticism. If it's right, it's right. Gas is dead. Electric is the future. And it's only getting better.

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