pascalemod

Probably someone done this before, trying to maximise the spec for the range.

Not gonna call a two tonne car a superleggera, yet As Im still playing with configurator on the RWD Taycan, I started to think in which ways can I get the car that has the lightest weight?

Which options to ditch?

Probably the big ones to skip (obvious) :
- 21in rims
- glass pano roof
- full extended leather
- paints with metallic?
- big brakes

On the flip side, these seem better from range perspective:
- Turbo aero 20s (porsche slider shows they gove better range vs 19s even)
- white paint? (Hero paint for Taycan)
- race tex everything or
- stock partial leather?
- regular roof
- aero suspension for range
- extended battery for range

While many options are pointless to ditch (like badging) as gains are negligible, may be the core question is which interior trim is lightest?

Standard leather or Race-Tex?

interested in your thoughts on this daft exercise😅.

dgtarga

I agree........ it's a daft exercise.

Needsdecaf

Really, the only thing that will have any kind of material effect on the range is the wheels / tires. Both from an aero and a rolling resistance perspective. Other than that, it's pointless. First, you likely make up more than the difference in the paint, interior materials, etc. with your own body weight fluctuations on a daily basis. Second, unless you're just stuck in stop / go traffic non-stop, your biggest losses will come from aero, mechanical and rolling drag. Two of those things you can help. One you cannot. Weight, once accelerated, plays less of a part in things.

So get the aero wheels with all season tires and enjoy the rest of the car how you like. You're talking about maybe 50 lbs on a 5000 lb car. And that 1% of weight reduction isn't going to give you 1% more range. And if it did....that'd be 2 miles. Which is easily within the range of variation of how you drive, how cold / hot the car is, etc.

You're worrying over nothing.

pascalemod

Not worrying at all. Just thinking out loud. Thanks for indulging.
I have experience with running a few 3 series BMW of same model, and engine, but some with leather and electric seats and big wheels and another with cloth and no options almost to speak of. There is a difference in dynamics I can feel a bit. I figured may be here something is to think about. As you say, the wheels are the main culprit. But having lifted car seats with leather and wihtout I can tell you there is a difference in weight you at first would not necessarily believe.

Needsdecaf

Oh no, I don't think you're completely off base. Your example is certainly very valid, however when you try to translate it over to a BEV, it gets lost in translation. Keep in mind you're talking about a significantly heavier car. Your BMW's probably weighed in the 3,200 to 3,400 lb range (if not lighter if you're talking about an earlier one). Taycan is 5000 lbs (4S with large battery). So as an overall percentage of the car, your weight loss efforts there meant more. Also, with ICE, the weight is somewhat evenly distributed. With a BEV, especially a purpose built BEV with a skateboard battery, you have somewhere around 1,500 lbs (I'm guessing off the top of my head, I can't remember, but it's well over 1,000) flat battery pack at the bottom of the car. So nothing you do is going to materially effect the mass centroid of the car. I believe Porsche has said that the Taycan has the lowest center of mass of any production Porsche, including any and all 911's.

Finally, remember that the car is ultra efficient. It has a 93.4 kWh battery, which has the same amount of energy storage as 2.8 gallons of gas. And can go, at a minimum, 230 miles, but more like 250 to 270. So the minimum consumption is 82 MPG. In a car that deploys between 480HP and up to 560 HP in overboost. People gloss over those numbers because it's different, but if I told you that BMW was selling an M550i that when 0-60 in 4 seconds flat, had 500 HP and got 80 MPG, you'd probably wonder what planet I had just landed from. Such is the efficiency of a BEV powertrain. My Model 3 Performance does 0-60 in under 3.5 Seconds and gets about 105 MPG(e). Crazy pants. It's why people with EV's worry about solar load, heating losses, headwinds, etc. Because you're so much more efficiently deploying energy that any losses are of far greater consequence. If you run into a 25 MPH headwind in an ICE car, you're already burning so much fuel to make heat and noise that you might lose 1-2 MPG? And that's of little consequence. But in a BEV, you're losing far more of your range.

So if you're worried about range, aero and tires are by FAR your biggest enemies.

n2cars

I knew a professional bike rider that rode in the Tour de France in the 1970s. I asked him what benefit there was to shaving his legs? He said in the brutal mountain stages beads of sweat would cling to hairs on his legs. I don't know how much you save by shaving the legs but any edge is an advantage.

kort677

the hair, the sweat all damage the aerodynamics of his body, shaving reduces any hit on his aerodynamics.
another reason is road rash, hairy legs will have an impact on the road rash from crashes.

pascalemod

Thats where we are at. Tyres and rims and probably suspension / lower ride height. In fairness, this weight thing - well, look up weight if Audi RS6 weighs 2.1 tonnes, then tycan doesnt sound that crazy heavy.

Yes this is correct. Road rash is a major one actually. Getting hair in the wound is not great. aerodynamics hit is almost an old wives tail today. In cycling aero advantages are mainly in seating position (as per famous clip of cyclist unclipping and riding downhill in a plank position and overtaking all, in an extreme case of aero dynamics… now banned).