Tonneau Range Savings? ~10%?

[shadycoh]

wishful thinking is a powerful thing.

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[RickLightning]

wishful thinking is a powerful thing.

Last I checked, it only worked for Dorothy.

 

[shadycoh]

Last I checked, it only worked for Dorothy.

yet you sill have tons of people clicking there heels in hopes it improves miles per kw

 

[Capertrj]

I would think any slight increase in aerodynamics would be offset by the 50ish lb cover. I got the retrax pro xr on Black Friday. Have about 1500 miles before installed cover. Now that it’s colder it’s hard to do a fair comparison. Either way on my typical 55 mile one way commute I’m in the 2.0-2.2 kwm before and after.

 

[AdmiralYamo]

I think it's fair to say no one would notice a 5% change in MPG when on a normal driving route without truly controlling a lot of the experiment.

 

[queuewho]

Any aero increase would probably be negated by the added weight. I think at very least we should be happy if it is a wash, as having a covered bed that you can use for more than just dirt or something, is very worth it.

 

[Beaux]

Having had a Retrax pro MX cover most of the time I've owned the truck I would say I'm not seeing any gains at all.

 

[heelyeah]

Definitely no observed gains for me, but that's not why I have it.

 

[Jer]

Would think that if a cover added 10% efficiency then Ford would sell every truck with it as standard. That is 20 to 30 miles of range added for pennies. Didn't they add heated seats as standard in the Pro to minimize heat use and make winter range better?

If not as a standard at least recommend a cover if it truly improves range/mileage. I would buy one for a 10% improvement, but don’t think it exists.

 

[Akbrian]

Let see….
Bed cover 1000$ this is cheap for a good one.
Power 0.10$/kwh I know it varies a lot.
10000kwh for 1000$

So let say you use 500Kw a month driving and see a whopping 10% energy savings(impossible) it would only take you 16 years to break even. A more realistic number is 1% so by the year 2200 you could have that tonneau start to pay you back.

 

[RickLightning]

Neither of your comparisons compare to scientific evidence from testing done by reputable organizations, that show no advantage.

 

[RickLightning]

Oh, I get it. "I hope my tonneau cover gets me 10% better miles per kilowatt hour". Got it...

 

[skyak]

Probably going to depend a lot on cover surface material (flexible/rigid/smooth/corrugated) and color.

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