Function over Form - Best wheels for pure efficiency that support the Mach-E?

[Pushrods&Capacitors]

This is fantastic! It allows me to actually consider the EV01+ now, thanks for the info!
From what I have seen online, the EV01+ seems to be one of the more efficient wheels available for EVs

Cool. Apparently we are opposites. My wife wanted wheels for her 4X so we got some 20x8.5” OZ Racing Gran Turismo HLTs with 255/45 UHP A/S rubber. Lost about 10-15 miles of range from the looks of it but well worth it for the increased grip and better looks. ??‍

Another thing to consider - although aerodynamics are really important for range, getting a lighter wheel/tire combo also reduces unsprung weight. This improves acceleration, handling, steering feel, and ride. And the lighter weight offsets some of the inevitable range loss due to increased rolling resistance if you choose wider, stickier rubber.

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[Mathington]

Cool. Apparently we are opposites. My wife wanted wheels for her 4X so we got some 20x8.5” OZ Racing Gran Turismo HLTs with 255/45 UHP A/S rubber. Lost about 10-15 miles of range from the looks of it but well worth it for the increased grip and better looks. ??‍

Another thing to consider - although aerodynamics are really important for range, getting a lighter wheel/tire combo also reduces unsprung weight. This improves acceleration, handling, steering feel, and ride. And the lighter weight offsets some of the inevitable range loss due to increased rolling resistance if you choose wider, stickier rubber.

Those wheels look awesome on your Mach-e! I really want to try and optimize the range and efficiency to see what I can get out of my SR AWD. Since I don’t have the larger battery, range loss is more of a factor.

 

[Boselka]

Thanks @Mathington for posting this, I have also been thinking the same for our Premium AWD Extended Range. I have been looking for an excuse to get the CA Rt 1 wheels as I assumed that they would probably be the best for range improvements for the car based on that models range rating.

 

[Mache_Nor]

So, did you buy? In process of finding wheels / covers to increase efficiency myself.

 

[Mathington]

So, did you buy? In process of finding wheels / covers to increase efficiency myself.

I haven't bought yet, I decided to run my stock wheels for now. I'm going to wait and see what other options come onto the market before I drop $1,000+ on new wheels. Most of the options out there required me to run wider tires and would therefore increase the cost and offset the the limited efficiency gain.

 

[MachGT]

Update: i put a set of CR1 wheels on my GT. From San Francisco South Lake Tahoe, in winter, driving speed limit, i arrived multiple times with 22-24% charge remaining (15-55 degrees). On the GT wheels in the fall, i would arrive with 9-11%. 195mi drive, with a 7,500 foot elevation gain. Pretty impressive results.

For guaranteed results, the California Route 1 wheels and tires seem to be the best combo for max range. The heavier Cal RT 1 AWD ER has a higher MPGe than the base standard range Mach-E. The only notable difference between the two cars is the wheel. The difference between the AWD ER and Rt1 ER is literally the wheel, since they have the same everything. I'm waiting for someone to throw an ER wheel on a GT. Something else to consider: The Rt1 wheel and tire combo is narrower (225mm) than the GT wheel (245mm). The Rt1 Tire is also has a higher sidewall. Increased sidewall height increases the fore-aft contact patch which is better for straight line acceleration. A wider, narrower profile tire has a more pronounced right-left contact patch, which is better for cornering. I can't wait to see some straight line acceleration and efficiency tests on a GT with a Rt1 wheel/tire.

Pulled the efficiency from fueleconomy.gov
https://fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbsSelect&id=45138&id=45139&id=45140

Aero Covers (a fancy name for hub caps), are certainly more complicated than the similar name change for pleather to "vegan leather", as shown off in this article from Audi. Obviously still not far off from still just being a hub cap, but interesting anyway.
https://www.progress.audi/progress/en/audi-aero-wheel.html

 

[SWO]

For guaranteed results, the California Route 1 wheels and tires seem to be the best combo for max range. The heavier Cal RT 1 AWD ER has a higher MPGe than the base standard range Mach-E. The only notable difference between the two cars is the wheel. The difference between the AWD ER and Rt1 ER is literally the wheel, since they have the same everything. I'm waiting for someone to throw an ER wheel on a GT. Something else to consider: The Rt1 wheel and tire combo is narrower (225mm) than the GT wheel (245mm). The Rt1 Tire is also has a higher sidewall. Increased sidewall height increases the fore-aft contact patch which is better for straight line acceleration. A wider, narrower profile tire has a more pronounced right-left contact patch, which is better for cornering. I can't wait to see some straight line acceleration and efficiency tests on a GT with a Rt1 wheel/tire.

Pulled the efficiency from fueleconomy.gov
https://fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbsSelect&id=45138&id=45139&id=45140

Aero Covers (a fancy name for hub caps), are certainly more complicated than the similar name change for pleather to "vegan leather", as shown off in this article from Audi. Obviously still not far off from still just being a hub cap, but interesting anyway.
https://www.progress.audi/progress/en/audi-aero-wheel.html

I've been casually looking for a set of CR1 wheels, but they're pretty hard to find right now. It would be interesting to get a set and put CrossClimate2's on them for winter use.

I also think it would be interesting if someone made a new aero cover for the GT petal wheels which covered up more (all?) of the openings.

 

[mdraptor]

I believe the narrower tire has more affect on the range then the aero covers. I friend has a Tesla model 3 and 2 months after buying he scratched up his aero covers on a curb. He took them off and it has range or miles per kwh. Here is a youtube link that has a unscientific test

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JYUxkGsiz1E" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[MachGT]

100% agree that width and diameter of wheel and width of tire are the most critical. Per the Audi article, aero still likely matters, just by a much smaller amount. Thanks for the video.

Regarding snow tires, I'm sure they'd impact range due to the extra siping. I'm eventually going to get some Rt1s for the GT and I'll post the results.

 

[mkhuffman]

100% agree that width and diameter of wheel and width of tire are the most critical. Per the Audi article, aero still likely matters, just by a much smaller amount. Thanks for the video.

Regarding snow tires, I'm sure they'd impact range due to the extra siping. I'm eventually going to get some Rt1s for the GT and I'll post the results.

Rim width and the size of the tire sidewall matters because of aerodynamics.

Tire width matters because of aerodynamics and rolling resistance.

The two most important factors that impact wheel efficiency are aerodynamics and rolling resistance.

There are lots of ways to improve aerodynamics including getting narrower wheels and tires, and getting tires with larger sidewalls. The larger sidewalls are smoother than rims (typically) and are more aerodynamic.

As a wheel spins faster and faster, the air resistance from that spinning reduces efficiency, and the outside of the wheel has a much bigger impact than the inside. Since the larger sidewalls are the farthest from the center, they have a significant impact. But rims that are smooth like tires will also have good results. That is why you often seen crazily efficient cars with rims that are smooth.

From what I have read in multiple articles and studies, tire width has a minimal impact on rolling resistance. The biggest impact on rolling resistance is tire material and tire pressure. I have not seen any studies on how much wider tires impact aerodynamics, but I doubt it is very significant. That said, Ford did put skinny tires on the non-GT MME for a reason, and it wasn't to save cost.

The wheels Ford put on the various MME models were designed for efficiency. And they are heavy. Obviously weight is not very important.

So if you want the best wheels for efficiency, it makes sense to get the most aerodynamic wheels possible with tires that have the lowest rolling resistance possible. Personally I like the GT compromise of performance vs. efficiency.

 

[MachGT]

You have to think too that an extra inch of tire width adds a lot of weight when you sum up the amount around the entire circumference. Same for the extra mass in the barrel of a wider wheel. Rotating mass is a pretty big energy suck, In addition to everything else you mentioned.

 

[TD1273]

It seems that FastWheels do have a version of the EV01+ that supports the Mach-E! I am very tempted to buy them and see if there is a noticeable range improvement. In the YouTUbe video by Evo-lution, he managed to increase his efficiency from 16-17kWh/100km to 13-14kWh/100km by using these wheels and aero covers on his Kia Niro with the exact same tires.

I'm not sure if the same efficiency gains could be made with my Mach-E but if I could save 2-3kWh/100km I would be incredibly happy!

I know this is old post but did you ever purchase the EV01

 

[GT_order_#1001]

Resurrecting an old thread ... I've posted pics on another thread of Rotiform black LAS-R 19x8.5 +45 rims, black Aerodiscs and Continental ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus tires on a Shadow Black 2022 GT.

https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...rims-should-i-choose.31563/page-2#post-714307

 

[nordaj23e]

Just found these from fastco - newly released. Don't know anything about them and won't likely try them but sharing:
https://fastco.ca/Fast-Wheels/Alloy...ssive=0&wheelDiameter=18&stylefinish=EV05|BLK

 

[Mache_Nor]

Decided to go for new rims with aim for efficiency. Went from 18 inch standard rims (premium RWD) to 18 inch Racer EV+. Seems to be 3-5% efficiency gains (not scientific validated though!).

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