Tonneau Covers VS MPG Performance

[dwalme]

My buddy went to get a model 3 and immediately changed his mind when he got the insurance quotes. What money you save in fuel, you'll spend on the additional insurance premiums. That's the case down here in FL at least. His insurance rates for the year were going to triple from the price he was paying to insure his Mazda3. Different topic for a different day, but I was in shock when he told me the best insurance quote he could find was just over $3k a year lol.

View attachment 104216

This is true.

I owned two Model 3s (now just one) and any fuel savings are completely erased by the increase in the insurance and annual state registration fees for EVs.

EV drivers pay more tax annually than a RAM owner will pay at the pump in taxes.

Buy the EV for the superior drivetrain and because it creates less negative impact on the planet. Not because you are saving any money.

 

[Johnny_H]

Driving the same route daily for 10 years my 1968 Fargo (3 on the tree 225 slant 6) would reliably gain 2mpg with the tailgate down. It was a brick and very stressed at 65mph. I paid $800 for that truck so probably recouped the value of that truck over several years in gas savings.

My 21 limited cost roughly 100 times that so I’m not too sure I would care even if there was a mpg or two to be had.

Interestingly, my truck came with a garbage soft roll tonneau from the dealer and I swear I get better mileage since I replaced it with a hard trifold. It wind buffeted like crazy and it would cause vibration at high speeds or crosswinds. I have no hard data, and my truck’s mileage has improved noticeably every few thousand km anyway so really, who knows. Just seemed like an instant improvement.

Lastly, there’s been discussion on the aerodynamic properties of the lip on the tailgate. Rams have more thought put into aerodynamics than any other trucks (even the gen 4 did). Conceivably a tonneau could interfere with that and possibly worsen mileage. One more point to consider


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[834k3r]

Buy the EV for the superior drivetrain and because it creates less negative impact on the planet. Not because you are saving any money.

OT, but that's only true if you ignore the production and disposal of the batteries.
<mutes thread>

 

[HeavyRotation]

I installed a Truxedo Sentry about a month ago and noticed my mileage went from the mid 17s to about 12. It could be that dragging a large aluminum jet boat around also has something to do with that.

 

[HeavyRotation]

Buy the EV for the superior drivetrain and because it creates less negative impact on the planet. Not because you are saving any money.

Superior how, lower maintenance?
You sure about that "less negative impact?" Its good marketing, that's for sure.

 

[GKIII]

Superior how, lower maintenance?
You sure about that "less negative impact?" Its good marketing, that's for sure.

I will admit having all that instant torque is very entertaining.

 

[dwalme]

Superior how, lower maintenance?
You sure about that "less negative impact?" Its good marketing, that's for sure.

Drive one and you'll see. Just a couple things off the top of my head.

Zero latency response. Never waiting for a transmission to shift. No need for "pedal commanders" to take the high latency delay out of pressing the accelerator pedal.

Instant torque. Acceleration is a completely different experience to even the best ICE performance cars let alone the RAM truck.

Batteries are recyclable and have value at the end of their useful life in the car. They will be used for a very long time. Time will tell how it will all play out though.

The whole world is moving to electric vehicles for passenger vehicles. That doesn't happen because ice vehicles are superior. There are some trade-offs sure, but as time goes on those trade-offs will become less and less.

 

[HeavyRotation]

Drive one and you'll see. Just a couple things off the top of my head.

Zero latency response. Never waiting for a transmission to shift. No need for "pedal commanders" to take the high latency delay out of pressing the accelerator pedal.

Instant torque. Acceleration is a completely different experience to even the best ICE performance cars let alone the RAM truck.

Batteries are recyclable and have value at the end of their useful life in the car. They will be used for a very long time. Time will tell how it will all play out though.

The whole world is moving to electric vehicles for passenger vehicles. That doesn't happen because ice vehicles are superior. There are some trade-offs sure, but as time goes on those trade-offs will become less and less.

I've ridden every Zero model since 2014 extensively on roads, dirt and racetrack. They do not equal the performance of ICE motorcycles. They are too heavy. Monster acceleration in a straight line is great for flatlanders but when the road gets twisty give me 150hp Miata over any Tesla. Electric cars are soulless driving appliances, like a nice Electrolux canister vacuum.

 

[dwalme]

Sorry I thought we were talking cars. I know very little about motorcycles.

 

[vincentw56]

Sorry I thought we were talking cars. I know very little about motorcycles.

Plus, not sure you can put a tonneau cover on a motorcycle.

 

[HeavyRotation]

Sorry I thought we were talking cars. I know very little about motorcycles.

We were talking Trucks until someone brought up cars. Check out the relative lap times of the FIM Enel Moto E bikes vs Moto1 or 2 times, they're fast until they have to change direction. That makes them slow in the PMOI universe, just like a Tesla. I take it you've never driven a slalom course or fast chicane in an electric car, they simply don't change direction readily. Inertia of battery vehicles per specific output sucks, both in PMOI and on the brakes. Enjoy your appliance though, they really are great commuter cars.

 

[vinnieloo]

Consumer reports did a test and found tailgate up without tonneau was the best mileage but they used a soft tonneau.

Pickup Truck Tailgates | Fuel Economy - Consumer Reports News

Pickup Truck Tailgates have long been at the center of truck owner debates on how to improve the aerodynamics of the cargo bed and if doing so was worth the effort. Conventional wisdom dictates that an empty bed with the tailgate up would capture air flow and the added drag would reduce fuel...

www.consumerreports.org

Ford tested and agreed with tailgate up but said tonneaus help. Tailgates are designed and tested to direct air flow.

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[Trooper4]

I didn't get one for better mileage and doubt if I gained enough to reliably measure. Got it for the security first, functionality second, and looks third. It does what I want it to do and looks good doing it IMO.

 

[834k3r]

I didn't get one for better mileage and doubt if I gained enough to reliably measure. Got it for the security first, functionality second, and looks third. It does what I want it to do and looks good doing it IMO.

Exactly why I'm buying one--I'm just curious as to the increase (or not) in fuel efficiency. I'm kind of a geek that way. I would've loved to have been an engineer, but calculus and I do not get along well.

 

[Biggiehorn]

Exactly why I'm buying one--I'm just curious as to the increase (or not) in fuel efficiency. I'm kind of a geek that way.

Same for me.. but that is also why I originally asked. Just wanted to see what users were seeing in the real world against the manufacturers MPG advertising claims. I plan to get one down the road for the reason listed above. If it does result in even a fractional amount of MPG improvement then that is just an added bonus.

 

[GKIII]

Exactly why I'm buying one--I'm just curious as to the increase (or not) in fuel efficiency. I'm kind of a geek that way. I would've loved to have been an engineer, but calculus and I do not get along well.

To be fair, I am an engineer and I still don't like doing calculus by hand

Also, aero gains are minimal (if any) and you're also adding weight. I'd say it's a wash at best with most covers.

 

[Shots]

.... I'm kind of a geek that way. I would've loved to have been an engineer, but calculus and I do not get along well.

To be fair, I am an engineer and I still don't like doing calculus by hand
....

Funny I was going to say the same thing. Calculus sucks, I know very few people who enjoy doing it longhand. I have calculators, and I've made Exel templates that allow me to simply plug in the numbers for various formulas. You have to know how to do it so you can validate your results and/or identify something that doesn't seem right, but we're not doing it any more than we need to either.

 

[Trooper4]

If it kind of works and doesn't sent up smoke signals, don't overthink it.

 

[jessed1]

Funny I was going to say the same thing. Calculus sucks, I know very few people who enjoy doing it longhand. I have calculators, and I've made Exel templates that allow me to simply plug in the numbers for various formulas. You have to know how to do it so you can validate your results and/or identify something that doesn't seem right, but we're not doing it any more than we need to either.

I prefer MATLAB... that and a hammer is all I really need to solve most problems....

 

[Shots]

LOL, only 2 tools needed to "solve most problems".
Duct tape: for if it moves but isn't supposed to.
WD-40: for it it doesn't move but it should.

Seriously matlab is good software though.