Tesla owner with bike roof rack?

Have any Tesla owners run a single bike roof rack? I am thinking about getting a seasucker type rack and wondered how much it impacts range?

Single bike, Front Wheel off, lower down near Trunk I wondered if the impact might be less.

Thanks for any comments.

Not sure the roof glass is rated for that type of rack. I’d check. They do sell roofbars for the Y at least. Pricey but they might be a safer bet. No idea about effect on range, but I’d imagine it’d have a big impact given how aero a Tesla normally is. I was thinking about fitting a tow bar on mine, but for now we’ve still got an old Skoda which can do bike lugging duties.

What about a tow bar rack? I switched to this style, it’s much easier and better for economy.

For those with a tow bar rack. Did you get the official tow bar at £1100 or a third party one?

I just use Thule Prorides on the official Tesla roof rack. It’s only very occasional use (one two hour each way journey so far), and four bikes on the roof probably reduced range by close to 50%. For a longer summer trip to the alps, I’ll be putting my road bike in the roof box – bikes on the roof would make a long trip a bit tedious!

If I was regularly transporting bikes, I think about the tow bar rack.

Hasn’t @chipps got the towbar rack?

Tesla tow bar owner here. I can’t really see how a third party one would work, as you need all the wiring gubbins in place.

anyway, with a Thule three bike rack, and three bikes, the dent on the range depends on your speed. If you keep it under 70mph, then it’s probably 15%. If you’re doing 130km/h on French peages, then it goes down quite rapidly… I imagine it’s a steep curve above 65 mph.

I use the Tesla tow bar on mine. Last summer we drove to Morzine with three bikes on the tow bar. Needed four stops to charge which was fine, but it should have been a three-stopper. As Chipps says, driving at too higher speed makes a massive difference to consumption. After I got back I discovered that the bikes and rack that we used totalled over the tow bar weight limit (72kg), so keep that in mind. I have also used a Rock Bros sucker on the roof and had four bikes on the car on a trip last year, although I should have just dragged a parachute behind the car for the same effect on consumption!

useful thread. Am awaiting delivery of an i4 and have opted for the retractable towbar, a costly option, as was concerned about impact on consumption of roof carriers, added to the fact that I transport a Levo SL. I do currently have a towbar rack so it’s ‘just’ the cost of the factory towbar that I need to allow for..

Thanks for the comments. I do have the tow bar already fitted from factory but want to avoid the heavy and cumbersome Thule 3 bike rack. I opted for a Thule 970 Express and light board for short trips or when only taking 1 bike.

Towbar has got to impact range less than having them on the roof surely??
Plus you can get aftermarket towbar for the Tesla these days. About half the price of the factory version.

https://etowbars.com/uk/Towbars/Tesla-Towbars/Tesla-Model-3-Towbars/Tesla-Model-3-Invisible-Towbar

How many people and bikes do you need to transport?

Last summer we managed three people, three peoples kit, three bikes and an EVOC bike travel bag (we picked up one friend with his bike from the airport) inside a model Y. Packing was akin to Tetris, but it was possible. Total trip was about 600 miles…

I’ve just got a used ix3 with tow hook and opted for a traditional rack over a roof mount system to try to minimise drag. Also got a lightish (Volvo rebrand of the Thule 924 velocompact) rack second hand 😀

Spent a lot of time looking for a Scorpion upright tow hook system as it instinctively felt like the least drag of all external solutions. Unfortunately sold out and they never responded to my emails about stock and couldn’t find one second hand