1kw/m difference by changing driving style

[Supratachophobia]

I remember that episode. They had to get really close for big savings.

Nah. Even at a safe distance, there was 20-30% improvement. Something like 90% at 3ft, but it was an exponential scaling of savings. Certainly worth it.

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[SDH]

or just drive like they do in Charlotte - 3 inches from your rear bumper (lights on full beam if its night time or sometimes not at all).

 

[iansriv]

This is amazing! Not sure where or why I got this from but I'm very uncomfortable driving behind very large vehicles. I need to see ahead and can't seem to do that with a big truck in front of me. Besides, I very rarely drive below 80 on the highway.

 

[JonW716]

I am sure there are plenty of people who know this. I have been doing this for some time but I never really spoke about it before.
Today I went for a 240 mile drive (120 each way) to pick up some things. It was 95% highway, 65mph limit, upstate NY so not flat but no mountains.
The way there I did 73, had the heat set at 66 and it was 35 outside. There was a headwind of about 10-20 with 30 mph gusts. When I arrived my efficiency was 2.01.
On the way home I set cruise at 70, turned off the heat (still was 35 outside) and found a tractor trailer driving 70 and parked behind them. I had driver plus on and when he sped up going down hills i would speed up and then obviously would slow down going up hills. I stayed about 2 car lengths behind. I also had that tailwind (which does help a lot). When I got home i was pleasantly surprised to see my efficiency was 3.06. That is a huge difference. I have drafted trucks in the past but it is tough to find one not going too slow. 70 was a good speed and I was behind them almost the whole way.
Just a bit of info in case you wanted it. Drafting works amazing. Not sure if turning off the heat did a lot but it didn't hurt.
Thanks!

The Rivian is basically a brick with bad aerodynamics which hurts efficiency badly. Seven times a year I take multiple 1,800+ mile round trips, when ever I can find a truck going 70-75 I draft them. Going up to 75 drafting trucks is the equivalent of going 60-65 solo for the most part. It definitely makes a huge difference for peak efficiency on long trips especially in the cost of charging overall. Its drives like that which make me miss my diesel truck with a 52 gallon tank and cruise set to 77, (diesel would cost roughly $400 round trip, Rivian came out to $280). Going to take my first one with the new EV in 2 weeks.... It will be interesting to see how something much more aerodynamic does with a 35KW smaller battery and the same range estimate.

 

[Hillbilly]

I am sure there are plenty of people who know this. I have been doing this for some time but I never really spoke about it before.
Today I went for a 240 mile drive (120 each way) to pick up some things. It was 95% highway, 65mph limit, upstate NY so not flat but no mountains.
The way there I did 73, had the heat set at 66 and it was 35 outside. There was a headwind of about 10-20 with 30 mph gusts. When I arrived my efficiency was 2.01.
On the way home I set cruise at 70, turned off the heat (still was 35 outside) and found a tractor trailer driving 70 and parked behind them. I had driver plus on and when he sped up going down hills i would speed up and then obviously would slow down going up hills. I stayed about 2 car lengths behind. I also had that tailwind (which does help a lot). When I got home i was pleasantly surprised to see my efficiency was 3.06. That is a huge difference. I have drafted trucks in the past but it is tough to find one not going too slow. 70 was a good speed and I was behind them almost the whole way.
Just a bit of info in case you wanted it. Drafting works amazing. Not sure if turning off the heat did a lot but it didn't hurt.
Thanks!

I hate risking a cracked windshield so I can't bring myself to draft another vehicle. My wife tailgates (I hate riding with her) and gets chips.

 

[AYAYRON]

I am sure there are plenty of people who know this. I have been doing this for some time but I never really spoke about it before.
Today I went for a 240 mile drive (120 each way) to pick up some things. It was 95% highway, 65mph limit, upstate NY so not flat but no mountains.
The way there I did 73, had the heat set at 66 and it was 35 outside. There was a headwind of about 10-20 with 30 mph gusts. When I arrived my efficiency was 2.01.
On the way home I set cruise at 70, turned off the heat (still was 35 outside) and found a tractor trailer driving 70 and parked behind them. I had driver plus on and when he sped up going down hills i would speed up and then obviously would slow down going up hills. I stayed about 2 car lengths behind. I also had that tailwind (which does help a lot). When I got home i was pleasantly surprised to see my efficiency was 3.06. That is a huge difference. I have drafted trucks in the past but it is tough to find one not going too slow. 70 was a good speed and I was behind them almost the whole way.
Just a bit of info in case you wanted it. Drafting works amazing. Not sure if turning off the heat did a lot but it didn't hurt.
Thanks!

Drafting plus a rock chip costing a new windshield is why I won’t do it persinally but heck yeah wind makes all the difference in the world

 

[Dave Cundiff]

This is amazing! Not sure where or why I got this from but I'm very uncomfortable driving behind very large vehicles. I need to see ahead and can't seem to do that with a big truck in front of me. Besides, I very rarely drive below 80 on the highway.

My experience and practice are exactly the opposite, @iansriv.

I need to avoid hitting things that are big enough to hurt me. If I know someone else is seeing a long way ahead, I don't need to.

One of my preferred tricks (especially with Adaptive Cruise, and especially at night or close to a forest) is to follow something that's big (truck or bus) and appears to be driving safely.

They can take the leader's risk of hitting things. I get the safety of following them, which narrows my risks substantially. Also, if they're larger and noisier than I am, their noise might reduce wildlife entry into the roadway, at least for the few seconds it takes my vehicle to get past the deer/elk/bear.

I don't follow dangerously close; my goal is safety, not fuel economy. I also don't follow something that I think can stop more quickly than I can.

Except for uncovered gravel, I haven't noticed much correlation between what I'm following (or how close) and windshield impacts. I think I get more rocks from the next lane over than I do from whatever I'm following in the same lane. I might be wrong about that.

Very best wishes!

 

[bigsky]

I have my R1S wrapped in 10-mil PPF. Even though I carry full glass coverage with no deductible also, and I still will not draft anything on the highway. Drafting increases risk many times over of your vehicle getting hit by a rock. Chipped paint, even primer, corrosion might set in.. Replacing a cracked windshield costs a lot.

I drive forever on All Purpose, Standard Height and keep at 65 not so much to save energy but because I am in no big fat hurry.

Say I save 20 kWh by drafting. Savings for me are not even $1.50. Cracked glass, a couple $k. Drafting for me would be, well, truly the poster child for being penny wise and pound foolish.

 

[DKM_R1S]

I drive forever on All Purpose, Standard Height and keep at 65 not so much to save energy but because I am in no big fat hurry.

Exactly, driving Low or Lowest is a rough ride and more susceptible to rock chips.

 

[bigsky]

That sounds about right. Especially at night, I would keep a safe distance from vehicle ahead of me and let it serve as the one clearing out road of any dangers ahead for me.

Made mistake of accidentally getting too close to a vehicle in my Tesla MYP once. Rock cracked windshield. $1,600 to replace at Tesla. Even though it cost me $0 out of pocket, never again.

 

[DKM_R1S]

My experience and practice are exactly the opposite, @iansriv.

I need to avoid hitting things that are big enough to hurt me. If I know someone else is seeing a long way ahead, I don't need to.

One of my preferred tricks (especially with Adaptive Cruise, and especially at night or close to a forest) is to follow something that's big (truck or bus) and appears to be driving safely.

They can take the leader's risk of hitting things. I get the safety of following them, which narrows my risks substantially. Also, if they're larger and noisier than I am, their noise might reduce wildlife entry into the roadway, at least for the few seconds it takes my vehicle to get past the deer/elk/bear.

I don't follow dangerously close; my goal is safety, not fuel economy. I also don't follow something that I think can stop more quickly than I can.

Except for uncovered gravel, I haven't noticed much correlation between what I'm following (or how close) and windshield impacts. I think I get more rocks from the next lane over than I do from whatever I'm following in the same lane. I might be wrong about that.

Very best wishes!

Be careful with that. A torn off truck tire sitting sideways on the road that a semi straddles may be too tall for your R1 to clear (depending on your height setting). Happened to me once with another car. The tire ripped off my front bumper.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Drafting is A LOT, watch the mythbusters episode.

I'd like to see this redone with an EV that has giant magnets in the front bumper. Attach to a semi trailer and see how much regen you can get.

 

[rhumbliner]

One of my preferred tricks (especially with Adaptive Cruise, and especially at night or close to a forest) is to follow something that's big (truck or bus) and appears to be driving safely.

I’ll do this when driving in extreme fog.

 

[mudito]

I've been drafting/hypermiling trucks since the 80's!

I'm from Argentina, and when you're traveling north/south through the Patagonia, there used to be "dead spots" at long as 300miles for refueling. With the 80's or 90's cars, you needed to hypermile to make it to the next refueling stop.

Once, traveling south in the year 2001 on a Renault Laguna V6 (great car, google it if you don't know it) we miss-calculated the fuel consumption and we had to drive at 50mi/hr behind an old truck for about 150miles. We ALMOST made it to the gas station, we got stranded about 1.5mi before it, so we walked to it

Ever since then, when I find a car/truck/SUV traveling at around the same speed I would, I draft the crap out of them

 

[Dave Cundiff]

I’ll do this when driving in extreme fog.

And I've done it in snow, @rhumbliner.

I remember when Greyhound employed only the best drivers and ran buses frequently. My favorite method of traversing the Pennsylvania Turnpike on snowy nights, in the early 1970s, was to get behind a Greyhound -- because I knew they were more skilled than I, and I trusted them to watch out for hazards I might not perceive.

Following others in poor visibility, though, depends on near-total trust of the driver in front of me.

These days, I would worry that the thing in front of me was overdriving its own visibility. When the thing in front of me HITS something, I may not be able to stop in time -- and the person trusting enough to follow me might not be able to stop either. We see these 100-vehicle crashes in the news. I don't want to be in one of them.

So if I don't think the person in front of me can see either, I slow WAY down, use flashers, and take 100% responsibility for making sure I can see what I'm doing. Or just get off the road completely, including the shoulder.

Best wishes!

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