campfamily
Well-known member
So it's been a while since we've had any significant rain here in Southern California, but over the past month or so, we've been catching up. And, I've noticed that my energy consumption has gone up by a bit more than 10%. I know that you east coast / mid west guys are probably laughing at me right now, given the range knock-down you guys see during a "real" winter, but wanted to float (get it???) a theory out there. Yes, I know that drivers typically use the heater more when it's raining, since it is usually colder and you need to run the defroster more, but I've been trying to minimize, even eliminate using those, and I've still seen a jump from about 245 wh/mi to about 270 wh/mi, over the last 1,000 miles or so.
Just wondering if anybody has ever done a study on the effects of rain on vehicle energy useage....wouldn't matter if it's an electric or ICE vehicle. Seems to me that there is higher rolling resistance (harder to roll a wheel through water than dry pavement), and higher air resistance (the thousands of rain drops hitting the car must be harder to push through than dry air), all of which should increase energy useage. What do you guys think, anything to my theory?
Keith
Just wondering if anybody has ever done a study on the effects of rain on vehicle energy useage....wouldn't matter if it's an electric or ICE vehicle. Seems to me that there is higher rolling resistance (harder to roll a wheel through water than dry pavement), and higher air resistance (the thousands of rain drops hitting the car must be harder to push through than dry air), all of which should increase energy useage. What do you guys think, anything to my theory?
Keith