New Pics: Wheels & Wrap

@duc900 This looks great! I have a black GT ordered and confirmed and was thinking about Stealth PPF when I get it but I think I might keep it glossy and just do the wrap on the roof trim. Any noticeable differences b/t the stock wheels and the signature wheels — ride quality, range that you have noticed so far?
 
@duc900 This looks great! I have a black GT ordered and confirmed and was thinking about Stealth PPF when I get it but I think I might keep it glossy and just do the wrap on the roof trim. Any noticeable differences b/t the stock wheels and the signature wheels — ride quality, range that you have noticed so far?

Nothing noticeable so far on ride quality. In terms of range, not certain. But they are definitely not areo but they are way lighter.
 
Mine are sv303 21in @ 24lbs. Stock 21 wheels are 30+lbs (I do not recall the exact number)
Yeah one of our members weighed his OEM wheels at 36lbs, so you’re taking off 12 pounds per corner = 48 pounds. I think my situation will be similar. Also not aero wheels so very curious to see if there are any range effects.

Notice any difference in handling and acceleration?
 
Yeah one of our members weighed his OEM wheels at 36lbs, so you’re taking off 12 pounds per corner = 48 pounds. I think my situation will be similar. Also not aero wheels so very curious to see if there are any range effects.

Notice any difference in handling and acceleration?
I wonder if the range lost from lack of Aero wheels will be regained by a 48 pound reduction in weight?

The range of the Ford Mach-E Premium extended range AWD is 277; whereas the California Route-1 extended range AWD is 312. Both have identical motors and battery size. The primary difference appears to be weight. They stripped off everything possible on the California Route-1 version. A good example of their actions: the premium has 8-way power seats while the California Route-1 has 4-way manual front seats. Removal of the motors is just one way to reduce weight.
 
I wonder if the range lost from lack of Aero wheels will be regained by a 48 pound reduction in weight?

The range of the Ford Mach-E Premium extended range AWD is 277; whereas the California Route-1 extended range AWD is 312. Both have identical motors and battery size. The primary difference appears to be weight. They stripped off everything possible on the California Route-1 version. A good example of their actions: the premium has 8-way power seats while the California Route-1 has 4-way manual front seats. Removal of the motors is just one way to reduce weight.
I tried to deep dive into this question doing my own research. I have no remotely relevant background expertise so take the following with a huge grain of salt. But from what I’ve been able to gather, most people believe that overall aerodynamics is the most important structural factor affecting the efficiency of an EV. Furthermore, the impact of wheel aerodynamics has been quoted as representing as much as 25% of the overall aerodynamics. So just based on that, wheel aerodynamics should technically have a greater impact on EV range than simple wheel weight reduction especially if the weight reduction (say 48 lbs) is a minuscule fraction of the overall vehicle weight (5000 lbs in the lucid case, making the wheel weight reduction only 1% of the overall).

The complexity is that there’s always a compromise between wheel aerodynamics and acceptable wheel aesthetic design and that the ‘perfect’ aero front wheel design isn’t necessarily the ‘perfect’ aero rear wheel design even on the same vehicle (but production cars are never designed with mismatching wheels). And what is a perfectly aero wheel on one car could actually be a terrible aero wheel on another car due to design differences in the cars themselves. Therefore, aerodynamics is somewhat relative to each individual vehicle design. Without actually testing a particular wheel on a particular car, you can’t know definitively which wheel will be more aerodynamic even if one of them has allegedly been designed as an ‘aero’ wheel.

Back to the weight issue. Absolute wheel weight isn’t thought to be the most important factor as mentioned above, but changes in wheel design/manufacturing technique/materials that allow it to reduce weight AND rotational inertia can potentially be impactful especially in terms of handling and acceleration. But the impact of rotational inertia reduction on actual EV range is, to my knowledge, unknown or hasn’t been formally tested. Some people believe that rotational inertia won’t have any impact on range because it only factors in during acceleration whereas once you’ve achieved constant velocity then it no longer matters and aerodynamics fully takes over. In the vacuum of space, that would be true. But in the real world, under real driving conditions, where most people spend 99% of their driving time in stop and go circumstances, and where even allegedly ‘constant speed’ is always a factor of adjustments in acceleration and deceleration, I think the answer may not ge as simple.

The problem with super lightweight wheels is that they have to be engineered to extremely high quality standards in order to safely bear the weight of a high performance EV which is not only super heavy but also super powerful.

Again, that’s just my own interpretation of what I’ve been able to read. I’m planning to test this myself when I get my wheels replaced and drive my car from San Diego to Vancouver.
 
Someone mentioned on this forum that rust on EV brake discs was very common because of one pedal driving and not using the brakes.
Every other day put do a hard brake to utilize the friction brakes for a few seconds. Rust problem solved
 
Mine are sv303 21in @ 24lbs. Stock 21 wheels are 30+lbs (I do not recall the exact number)
The 21s are 36.4 lbs. if you are saving 15lbs per wheel of unsprung weight that should make the handling a bit more crisp
 
Every other day put do a hard brake to utilize the friction brakes for a few seconds. Rust problem solved
That's true but this ring is related to where the wheel meets the hub and not the rotor where the pads touch. So braking is inconsequential to this area.
 
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