The Tesla Range Upgrade Nobody Talks About | HALOBLK Test IRL — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Apparently, these wheel covers can add
2. 0:02up to 10% range to your Tesla. And
3. 0:04honestly, before making this video, I
4. 0:06didn't know if I believed that because
5. 0:08adding 30 mi of range seems a little bit
6. 0:10far-fetched. So, I tested these
7. 0:12back-to-back against the Tesla stock
8. 0:14wheel covers in real Dallas traffic to
9. 0:16see if this is legit or just marketing
10. 0:18hype. These are the Halo Black Halo Disc
11. 0:202 aftermarket wheel covers. By the end
12. 0:22of this video, we're going to find out
13. 0:23which setup looks best in person, if
14. 0:25these actually improve efficiency, how
15. 0:27much money they could save, and the one
16. 0:29thing I noticed during testing that
17. 0:30nobody seems to be talking about. All
18. 0:32right, so if you've been watching my
19. 0:33channel for a while, you know that I've
20. 0:35owned a Teslas for 6 years now. And in
21. 0:38that time, I've reviewed a lot of
22. 0:39accessories. Some great, some terrible.
23. 0:42So far, none have been worthy of their
24. 0:44own dedicated video. Until these. These
25. 0:46are different. These Halo Black Halo
26. 0:48Disc 2 wheel covers became super popular
27. 0:51in the Tesla community because they
28. 0:52basically combine three things Tesla
29. 0:54owners obsess over most. Range,
30. 0:56protection, and aesthetics. And the
31. 0:58aesthetic side is very polarizing. Some
32. 1:00people absolutely love these because
33. 1:02they look aggressive, they look
34. 1:03stylistic, and they look like they've
35. 1:05come straight out of a sci-fi movie.
36. 1:07Other people think they have that overly
37. 1:09EV look, that environment-saving nerd
38. 1:11cover look. There is some middle ground,
39. 1:13but I personally think it depends on how
40. 1:14you style them. I asked six different
41. 1:16people about them, and their opinions
42. 1:18were basically split 50/50. Literally on
43. 1:20the first day that I installed these
44. 1:22onto my car, some guy came up to me in a
45. 1:23parking lot, asked where I got them, and
46. 1:25then immediately ordered them on the
47. 1:27spot for his Model S. So, clearly they
48. 1:29get attention. And I'll show you all the
49. 1:31different configurations later because
50. 1:33honestly, some combinations look way
51. 1:34better than others. But before we get
52. 1:36into the testing and all of the
53. 1:37customization stuff, let's talk about
54. 1:39what Halo Black is actually trying to do
55. 1:41here. The main idea behind them is
56. 1:42combining aerodynamic efficiency with
57. 1:44modular customization. So, you've got
58. 1:46interchangeable center caps, multiple
59. 1:48color options, different finishes, and
60. 1:50the cool part is how quickly you can
61. 1:51completely change the personality of
62. 1:53your car. White on white gives this It's
63. 1:55futuristic stormtrooper vibe. Black on
64. 1:57white looks way more aggressive. Orange
65. 1:59metallic center caps almost give
66. 2:01performance car energy, like a similar
67. 2:03look to brake calipers. And let's be
68. 2:05honest, most Teslas on the road look
69. 2:07identical to one another, so these can
70. 2:08be a great differentiator for you
71. 2:10immediately. And the center caps
72. 2:12specifically make way more difference
73. 2:14than I expected. This is probably the
74. 2:15biggest hidden appeal of the entire
75. 2:17system. One relatively affordable mod
76. 2:19can completely refresh the look of your
77. 2:21Tesla without doing wraps or new wheels
78. 2:24or spending thousand of dollars.
79. 2:25Especially if you combine this with
80. 2:27tint, carbon fiber, spoilers, lowering
81. 2:29kits, whatever aesthetic direction
82. 2:31you're going for. And what's cool is you
83. 2:33can completely change the look in
84. 2:34literally under a minute. Be prepared
85. 2:36for these to cover your valve stem
86. 2:38though, so make sure to keep the
87. 2:39included wrench in your car at all times
88. 2:41in case you need to remove the wheel
89. 2:42cover to adjust your tire pressure. Halo
90. 2:44black doesn't just have the plain
91. 2:46covers, they also have ones with designs
92. 2:48on them. So, if you want something a
93. 2:50little more crazy, you can check all of
94. 2:51the configurations at this QR code or in
95. 2:53the link in the description below with a
96. 2:5510% discount code for anyone watching
97. 2:57today. Right now, they're also including
98. 2:59a free second set of center caps with
99. 3:01the order and they support basically
100. 3:03every Tesla model and wheel size except
101. 3:05for Cybertruck. So, sorry Cybertruck
102. 3:07owners, maybe in the future they'll have
103. 3:08something for you. It doesn't hurt to
104. 3:09check. If you follow my channel, you
105. 3:11know I never talk about packaging
106. 3:12because personally, I could care less
107. 3:14how something is packaged. But this
108. 3:16genuinely impressed me. I only mention
109. 3:18packaging when it actually stands out.
110. 3:20Everything is organized properly, foam
111. 3:22inserts, gloves included, center lock
112. 3:24tool modular caps. Halo black's branding
113. 3:26and presentation immediately gives you
114. 3:28the impression that they actually care
115. 3:30about the experience and not just
116. 3:32selling a random accessory. Okay, now
117. 3:34for the installation. This started off
118. 3:37rough. I'm not even going to pretend
119. 3:39otherwise. Halo black claims that
120. 3:41installation should only take 5 minutes
121. 3:42to install all four wheel covers. Just
122. 3:45removing the Tesla stock covers took me
123. 3:46over 5 minutes. It was a total pain.
124. 3:48When it came to then installing the Halo
125. 3:50Disc 2's, the first wheel flustered me
126. 3:52because I was trying to figure out the
127. 3:54locking mechanism and reading
128. 3:55instructions and overthinking everything
129. 3:57and direct sunlight and 87-degree
130. 4:00weather, and I'm sitting there thinking,
131. 4:02"There is no way people are swapping
132. 4:04these in under a minute." Then, I
133. 4:05watched a 1-minute TikTok explaining the
134. 4:07installation instructions, and I felt
135. 4:09like an idiot because it was actually so
136. 4:11simple. After that, every wheel did take
137. 4:13under 2 minutes, and once you fully
138. 4:15understand the system, swapping
139. 4:16different center caps and color
140. 4:18combinations literally takes like 30
141. 4:20seconds to a minute, which does line up
142. 4:21exactly with Halo Black's claims. These
143. 4:23feel way more engineered and secure than
144. 4:26I expected. They're lightweight
145. 4:27polycarbonate ABS composite injection
146. 4:30molded for extra strength. But, the real
147. 4:32interesting part is the efficiency side
148. 4:34because Tesla already includes aero
149. 4:35covers for this exact purpose from the
150. 4:37factory. At highway speeds, wheels are
151. 4:39actually one of the messiest aerodynamic
152. 4:40areas on the entire car, and EVs are
153. 4:43extremely sensitive to drag. So, Halo
154. 4:45Black's entire pitch is basically, "What
155. 4:48if we push the aero concept even
156. 4:50further?" More coverage, smoother
157. 4:51airflow, less drag around the wheel
158. 4:53area, and according to Halo Black, this
159. 4:55can improve efficiency by up to 10%. For
160. 4:58context, the range on my 2026 Model Y
161. 5:00Premium Long Range is 357
162. 5:03miles. So, a 10% boost in range bumps
163. 5:06that up by over 35 miles to 392 miles of
164. 5:10range. But, later in this video, I'll
165. 5:12show you the real-world results I got in
166. 5:14actual Dallas traffic, and I promise
167. 5:16they are totally unexpected. Now, for
168. 5:17the part that everybody cares about, do
169. 5:20they really improve efficiency? And more
170. 5:22importantly, do they improve efficiency
171. 5:24in real conditions? Because this was not
172. 5:26some cherry-picked wind tunnel test.
173. 5:29This was real Dallas driving,
174. 5:30construction traffic, stop-and-go
175. 5:32traffic, highway driving, city driving,
176. 5:34night driving, basically a realistic mix
177. 5:36of how people actually use their cars.
178. 5:39In preparation for this experiment, I
179. 5:40charged the car up, which also warms the
180. 5:42battery to minimize cold battery
181. 5:43inefficiencies, then drove roughly 30
182. 5:46miles with the Halo Black covers
183. 5:47installed. Then I swapped back to the
184. 5:49Tesla wheel covers and repeated the
185. 5:50route in as close to the same conditions
186. 5:52as possible. Similar climate settings,
187. 5:54similar time of night, similar traffic
188. 5:56conditions. A full disclosure, mixed
189. 5:58traffic actually is going to hurt to the
190. 6:00Halo Black results because the
191. 6:01efficiency gains are noticed most at
192. 6:03high speeds on the highway because
193. 6:04aerodynamic gains matter most at highway
194. 6:06speeds. So, if these show improvements
195. 6:09with all of this mixed traffic, that is
196. 6:11a signal that these are the real deal.
197. 6:13And going into this, I thought it might
198. 6:15be like a 2% or a 4% gain. I I really
199. 6:17thought it might just be a wash and
200. 6:19there would be no efficiency
201. 6:20improvements at all. During the actual
202. 6:22drive, nothing really felt dramatically
203. 6:23different from a driving perspective.
204. 6:25Road feel was normal, stability was
205. 6:26normal, the noise levels felt pretty
206. 6:28similar, but the efficiency numbers
207. 6:30started looking really interesting,
208. 6:33especially considering we weren't even
209. 6:34doing pure highway driving. I actually
210. 6:36thought that leaving the highway would
211. 6:38ruin any significant efficiency gains,
212. 6:40but partway through the drive with the
213. 6:41stock wheel covers, I started thinking,
214. 6:43"Okay, wait a second. These might
215. 6:45actually work." So, in the first trip
216. 6:47with the Halo Black Halo Disk 2 wheel
217. 6:49covers installed, I averaged 223.8
218. 6:52Wh/mi over 31.2 miles. I forgot to reset
219. 6:56the trip, but it didn't matter because
220. 6:58some quick math revealed that with Tesla
221. 7:00stock wheel covers on the exact same
222. 7:02route, I averaged roughly 245.8
223. 7:05Wh/mi, which worked out to a confirmed
224. 7:08efficiency improvement of 9.75%, which
225. 7:12is actually insane because that is
226. 7:14almost identical to Halo Black's claim
227. 7:17of 10%. Now, as far as real-world
228. 7:19implications go, my 2026 Tesla Model Y
229. 7:22is rated for 357 miles of range. With a
230. 7:259.75%
231. 7:27improvement, that would theoretically
232. 7:28bring my car up to around 392
233. 7:31miles of range. So, if you saw my
234. 7:32thumbnail claiming plus 30 miles and
235. 7:34were impressed enough to click through,
236. 7:36that 30 miles claim that sold you was
237. 7:38actually an understatement. Technically,
238. 7:41this worked out closer to plus 35 miles.
239. 7:43Consider though that you only use about
240. 7:4560% of your battery as most people are
241. 7:47going to operate their vehicle between
242. 7:4820% and 80% battery. So, in this case,
243. 7:51if you normally use 60% of your battery
244. 7:53and get around 214 miles in your own
245. 7:56real-world driving conditions, this
246. 7:58would bring you closer to around 235
247. 8:01miles, which is a 21-mile range
248. 8:03increase. But, honestly, I think the
249. 8:04biggest benefit here is not even the
250. 8:06money savings, it's the convenience.
251. 8:08Fewer charging stops, more peace of mind
252. 8:10on road trips, more buffer between
253. 8:12chargers. Time is money. Like many
254. 8:14others who live in apartment buildings,
255. 8:15I personally don't have at-home
256. 8:17charging. I'm committed to exclusively
257. 8:19supercharging. These Halo black wheel
258. 8:21covers save me real-life charging time.
259. 8:23Now, obviously, your results may vary.
260. 8:26If you drive predominantly on the
261. 8:27highway, you'll notice more benefit. If
262. 8:29you drive mostly in the city, you'll
263. 8:31have less benefit. We just determined
264. 8:33that adding efficiency will add range
265. 8:35and save you money. So, the next
266. 8:36question becomes, do these save you
267. 8:38enough money to justify the price? Well,
268. 8:40the answer depends on how you drive your
269. 8:41Tesla. For home charging where
270. 8:43electricity is cheaper, the break-even
271. 8:45point works out to roughly 57,000 miles
272. 8:47after using the 10% discount code in the
273. 8:49link provided or the QR code on screen.
274. 8:52That's about 4 years and 3 months based
275. 8:54on the average of 13,500 miles driven
276. 8:56per year. But, if you supercharge a lot
277. 8:58like me, the math changes pretty
278. 9:00dramatically. At supercharger pricing,
279. 9:02the break-even point drops to around
280. 9:0424,500 miles, which is only about 1 year
281. 9:07and 10 months. So, in under 2 years, you
282. 9:09will break even on your purchase. And if
283. 9:11you're somewhere in the middle with a
284. 9:1250/50 split between home charging and
285. 9:14supercharging, you're looking at around
286. 9:1541,000 miles or roughly 3 years. That's
287. 9:18a pretty interesting value proposition
288. 9:20because most cosmetic mods never pay
289. 9:22themselves back, but these potentially
290. 9:24can. And before the full financial
291. 9:26break-even, you're still benefiting from
292. 9:28the convenience side of not having to
293. 9:29charge as often. There is one thing I
294. 9:31need to talk about, one downside that I
295. 9:33have not seen anybody else mention.
296. 9:35After repeatedly swapping between the
297. 9:36Halo black covers and the Tesla stock
298. 9:38covers during testing, I noticed
299. 9:40scratches on all four original wheels.
300. 9:43Mostly on the steel wheel spokes
301. 9:45underneath from repeatedly removing and
302. 9:47reinstalling Tesla stock covers
303. 9:48throughout the testing process. So, I
304. 9:50want to be careful not to unfairly blame
305. 9:52Halo Black here. But regardless, it is
306. 9:54something worth mentioning because if
307. 9:56you plan on consistently changing
308. 9:58configurations or frequently removing
309. 10:01and installing covers, there may be some
310. 10:02risk of scratching over time. So, after
311. 10:05all of this, would I keep them on my own
312. 10:06Tesla?
313. 10:08Yeah, probably. I'm going to keep them
314. 10:09on for now at least. The quality
315. 10:11exceeded my expectations. They were
316. 10:12super easy to install and change
317. 10:14configurations once I figured that out.
318. 10:16And it helps differentiate my Tesla from
319. 10:18the other million white Tesla Model Y's
320. 10:20on the road. Aesthetics are subjective.
321. 10:22Some people are absolutely going to love
322. 10:24these. Some people are going to hate
323. 10:25them. But if you're somebody who drives
324. 10:27highway a lot, takes road trips, cares
325. 10:29about efficiency, likes customizing your
326. 10:31Tesla, or just want something different
327. 10:33from every other Tesla on the road, I
328. 10:35highly recommend these. So, if you guys
329. 10:36want to check them out, I'll have the
330. 10:37link in the description below. You can
331. 10:38click this QR code for the same discount
332. 10:40as the link below. And right now they're
333. 10:42including that second set of center
334. 10:43caps. So, right now is probably a really
335. 10:45good time to buy. I don't know how long
336. 10:47that deal is going to be on for. If you
337. 10:48like this video, hit it with a like. If
338. 10:50you really liked it, subscribe, share it
339. 10:52with a friend, and check out this video
340. 10:53if you're into Tesla. I'm sure you will
341. 10:55like it. That's it for me today. Thank
342. 10:57you for watching. Until next time, stay
343. 10:59legendary. Peace.