To become more autonomous, ask your passengers to lose weight?

This page is translated from the original post "Pour gagner en autonomie, demandez à vos passagers de maigrir ?" in French.

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Tesla autonomie

Weight is the enemy of autonomy for any moving vehicle, especially for electric cars.

We know about excess baggage on airplanes, or even a surcharge for overweight passengers on some American airlines. But today, when trying to optimize the range of your electric car, there is a list of more or less relevant recommendations.

The issue of onboard weight, useful or not, is obviously on the table. Because the ranges displayed by manufacturers do not take into account real-life conditions. If you buy, for example, a Tesla Model Y, it is not to be alone on board. You are more likely to be a parent or a family member rather than a single person looking for an effective flirting mode. Although…

It remains that each additional 100 kg of load in a car reduces its range by about 2%. A person weighing 65 kg thus reduces the range of a Tesla Model Y Rear-wheel Drive by about 5.6 km on a full charge. This figure should be multiplied by the number of passengers + their luggage.

Is the impact really minor after all?

With a maximum load of 640 kg, the range of a Tesla Model Y Rear-wheel Drive is reduced by about 55 km, leaving an approximate remaining range of 375 km. Ultimately, this impact is relatively small in mixed-cycle driving for a simple reason: unlike a thermal vehicle that only loses range, an electric vehicle regenerates kinetic energy and stores it in its battery. This gives it back miles of range. However, a heavy car is indeed more fuel-consuming during acceleration, but it also has more energy to dissipate during deceleration.

This argument is especially valid in city driving where regeneration phases are numerous. On the highway, regeneration is seldom used, and the additional mass mainly acts as extra load, making it more energy-intensive.

In short, always aim for the most accurate loading, and remove unnecessary items. And don’t ask your passengers to lose weight—the gain wouldn’t compensate for the offense caused…

READ ALSO: Why Tesla Supercharger V4 stations will kill internal combustion engines

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