Anyone notice a MPG increase after adding a bed/tonneau cover? (Aerodynamics)

[clavicus]

EVs are efficient because electric motors are twice as efficient as gasoline engines are.

Can you explain that more? I feel like it must be a lot more complicated but maybe it's not.

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[Bushpilot]

Can you explain that more? I feel like it must be a lot more complicated but maybe it's not.

A really good gasoline engine might hit about 40% efficiency. Most electric motors are about 85-90% efficient.

Think about it this way - an electric motor has one moving part, the rotor. It simply spins, and is nearly frictionless.

The ICE has lots of moving parts, with lots of friction. It also has burning going on inside, creating lots of heat, which must be dissipated or the engine will overheat and destroy itself. Most of the heat energy in the fuel goes right out the exhaust pipe, totally lost.

 

[Old Hickory Trojan]

A really good gasoline engine might hit about 40% efficiency. Most electric motors are about 85-90% efficient.

Think about it this way - an electric motor has one moving part, the rotor. It simply spins, and is nearly frictionless.

The ICE has lots of moving parts, with lots of friction. It also has burning going on inside, creating lots of heat, which must be dissipated or the engine will overheat and destroy itself. Most of the heat energy in the fuel goes right out the exhaust pipe, totally lost.

With that that said, A well kept Gasoline engine is good for over 300k whereas a battery will be lucky to get 100-200k.....and which one is more likely to end up causing more damage to the environment as 5% of all electric batteries are serviceable and the rest are nothing but hazardous waste...

 

[Bushpilot]

With that that said, A well kept Gasoline engine is good for over 300k whereas a battery will be lucky to get 100-200k.....and which one is more likely to end up causing more damage to the environment as 5% of all electric batteries are serviceable and the rest are nothing but hazardous waste...

Sorry for the thread hijack ...

Back to topic, I haven't yet noticed any difference yet, but expect there would be some at highway speeds. Likely not enough to justify the expense of even the cheap cover.

All a guess.

 

[KenJ45]

Not sure about the cover but surely someone will chime in. I did see a show where they took 2 identical pickup trucks and drove one with the tailgate down (like folks do to improve mileage) and one with it up. Both drove the same roads, distance, speeds etc. The one with the tailgate up got the the best mileage. They obviously do extensive testing in wind tunnels etc and the airflow in the bed creates a bubble of air that helps airflow. I laugh whenever I see a truck with the tailgate down to increase gas mileage now.

Especially with trucks now and how easily the tailgate is removed from the hinge while it's open. I saw a video of them testing the Hyundai Santa Cruz and someone BARELY bumped the tailgate and it fell off its hinge. I could imagine someone driving down the road in one with the tailgate down and hit a bump on the road and the tailgate just falls off, lol.

 

[stoptothink]

With that that said, A well kept Gasoline engine is good for over 300k whereas a battery will be lucky to get 100-200k.....and which one is more likely to end up causing more damage to the environment as 5% of all electric batteries are serviceable and the rest are nothing but hazardous waste...

That isn't necessarily true. There are quite a few hybrids (and full EVs) out there with a ton of miles and on the original battery. Anecdotally, I'd say you are at least as likely to get 300k miles out of a battery as you are an original engine. Plus, as you said; "well kept" gasoline engine. That gasoline engine will require regular maintenance, there is no maintenance on a battery. Theoretically, electric motors and batteries should be more reliable and require less maintenance than ICE, but I'm not sure we have enough real world data to make an objective determination as of yet.

On the second part, although there isn't really an unbiased evaluation (that I have seen), I tend to agree with you. There are tradeoffs to everything; hybrids and EVs are objectively not the answer to all our environment and cost concerns as some attempt to paint them.

 

[Powered-by-Ford]

I have had the Truxedo on my 04 F-150, 2019 Ranger, and now my Maverick.
1. The vertical wall behind the cab is cut in half, reducing drag.
2. I don't feel the truck 'pushed' by the wind when passing semi's.
3. With the back window open, leaves and other debris get sucked through the rear window, tanneau cover stops that.
4. Of coarse, protects the contents...
5. I am getting 28 MPG 75% highway, ECO, AWD.

 

[infrno187]

Not to revive a dead post, but I did notice an MPG increase from my bed cover. I have a maverick Hybrid and my MPG went up by 0.1 so far. It’s only been a couple of days so it might go up more. I’m sitting at 49.1 MPG avg. The main thing I noticed right away was the drag from the bed was lower. The back end also felt more stable after putting it on. Less roll and twist in turns.

 

[GPSMan]

Not to revive a dead post, but I did notice an MPG increase from my bed cover. I have a maverick Hybrid and my MPG went up by 0.1 so far. It’s only been a couple of days so it might go up more. I’m sitting at 49.1 MPG avg. The main thing I noticed right away was the drag from the bed was lower. The back end also felt more stable after putting it on. Less roll and twist in turns.

Huh?

#dontthinkso
#placeboeffect
#toosmalltomeasure

 

[Jah.]

Have undercover armor tonneau . no change in mpg . 23.5/24 mpg city and 31.5 /32 mpg highway .

 

[GPSMan]

I have the cover too.
That adds what, 50 pounds of weight?

Doesn't "hurt" the aerodynamics but I don't think there was anything "wrong" with the naked truck aero that needed "help".

 

[Old Man]

You can't measure any change like that because every day with or without the cover you drive differently, in different weather conditions, in different traffic, ... etc.

 

[Poultrygeist]

This guy thinks so.

 

[Lordran_Hollow]

I'm curious if adding a bed cover would make the Maverick more Aerodynamic and possibly increase the MPG any noticeable amount? I know all trucks create a vortex/vacuum above the bed while driving on the freeway and thus a slight wind resistance. I threw an empty water bottle in the bed of my truck the other day and got on the freeway and all the way home, I saw it in the rearview mirror flying up and down and levitating from the wind vacuum.

Like others have said, the net gain (or even decrease) in efficiency is negligible.

I'd still highly recommend one though, back before I even got the truck I knew I was going to get a tonneau cover for it and took advantage of a Black Friday deal to get a bakflip for a large discount.

When I take my mom out for grocery shopping on the weekends we're able to keep most of the groceries in the bed while we hit different stores and the tonneau both keeps them safe and dry.

With my tonneau cover I had to do a couple of extra steps to make the tonneau (mostly) watertight. For the pieces that clamp to the bed I used 3M stripcaulk and placed a long run on the inner seam of where the support meets the bed. There's also a small channel where the two plastic halves of the edges of the bed meet that I placed stripcaulk in as that was a major spot for water to get in. I also failed to fully wrap the weather stripping they provided around the corners of the rear of the bed, so I get some mild water intrusion back there. I have some new weather stripping to fix that, but I'm lazy and haven't taken the time to apply it.


Either way, I highly recommend one just because they're convenient for turning your bed into a pseudo-trunk.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

For everyone talking about weight, it doesn’t really matter on the hybrid due to the regen braking. EVs are the heaviest vehicles around and yet they’re still far more efficient than gasoline vehicles on an MPGe basis. Also consider that the hybrid gets better mileage in the city with stop & go. As long as you don’t slam the brakes to engage physical calipers, the regen will recapture the extra momentum.

It all matters. Regen only recaptures a percentage of momentum of mass and the battery only stores a percentage of recaptured current as well as only a portion is returned to momentum. OEM tires are special ordered with 1-2/32" less tread and rubber composition is tweaked to lower rolling resistance and give a softer ride, etc. That's why, in my case, my own primacy come with 55k mileage warranty and after market primacy come with 65k milage warranty. All amounts result in themselves to very small increments but they all add up. Try driving downwind all the time, it will help mpg.

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