He wouldn’t recommend that everyone turn their roof box around even if it improves efficiency. Other than that, Hearst also explained that the aerodynamic performance of the box can affect different cars in different ways and increase turbulence and noise. Model 3 roof racks Model 3 - Towing hitch Model 3 - Roof rack set Roof panel seals (noise reduction) Seasucker Boardrack HDPE roofbars for surf and paddle. After all, the car has the pointed part in front, and the box should match the car. One of them is the aesthetics p eople buy products that look the way they expect. Jason Hearst at NTNU explains to Norway’s TU: Here’s a close look at the Tesla Model 3’s new roof rack with an efficiency. The aluminum cross bars on the roof rack feature T-slots to seamlessly mount compatible attachments such as ski racks, bike racks and cargo. The ultra-sleek attachment mechanism makes for easy installation at home while blending in seamlessly. So why are roof-box makers not recommending that they be installed like that?Īerodynamics researcher R. Tesla finally launched a roof rack for Model 3 a month ago and some owners are starting to get some use out of it. The Model 3 Roof Rack was designed and engineered from the ground up for maximum aerodynamic efficiency, minimal interior noise and impact to range. You can think of the wings of an airplane or a raindrop. The shape is definitely more aerodynamic. The Model 3 owner says that his car gets the same range as if the roof rack is installed without the box if the box is installed with the larger side forward. When the roof box is installed the way it is recommended by the manufacturer (right image above), it reduces the range by about 16%. He conducted some tests to see how it impacts efficiency, and the results are surprising.įritzson says that the roof rack alone impacts efficiency by about 3.6%. Peter Fritzson, a Tesla Sweden Club member, decided to turn his roof box around at the suggestion of his neighbor who is an aerodynamic performance expert: Now a Tesla Model 3 owner in Sweden has made a simple discovery with his roof-rack box that increases the efficiency quite a bit. Some owners have been testing how a roof rack and a roof-rack box affect the efficiency and range of the Model 3, which is inevitable. The product has been so popular that it has sold out on several occasions. More than a year later, Tesla finally launched the roof rack as a $450 aftermarket product on its shop website. That said, we knew it was possible since Tesla designed one for the Model S with a glass roof, and a Model 3 prototype was spotted with a roof rack in 2017.
#Tesla model 3 roof rack price install#
With Model 3’s glass roof, there wasn’t a clear way to safely install a roof rack to transport things like bikes or skis. A Tesla Model 3 owner figured out that his electric car is much more efficient with a roof-rack box gets if he flips the box around.