Anyone know of a rear bike rack that works with Tesla Model S?
Ravi Kempaiah
Well-Known Member
- Region
- Canada
- City
- Halifax
For such an expensive and nice car, it would be best to go with hitch rack. https://torkliftcentral.com/2012-2016-tesla-model-s-ecohitch-stealth
Trunk mounts are tricky because when the bikes sway or during loading/unloading process, it's easy to scratch the sheet metal.
Franklo
New Member
Try contacting the rack makers, maybe? like thule, yakima, saris to name a few. there were no racks listed for my subaru tribeca when i first got it because it was a new model at the time and they haven't been tested yet so the car model won't show up in the fit manual. i ended up getting the saris on the recommendation of my local bike shop and it worked fine. saris has since added the tribeca to their fit specs. if you get a trunk mount be sure the car is clean where the rack rests on the trunk. any grit or dirt could scratch the car and on a tesla that would be very depressing. also adding an extra cloth or thin foam piece would protect the car further. good luck in your quest.
hey- electric bike ; electric car. nice.
hey- electric bike ; electric car. nice.
Larry Ganz
Active Member
We tried using a trunk mount rack on our 2006 Subaru Tribeca and it worked, but once the we put on two adult bikes + two kids bikes we noticed the plastic dipped hooks were trying very hard to distort the car's sheet metal at the top of the hatch where we hooked the rack. We'd already bent the metal on a Suzuki XL7 hatch and didn't want it to happen with the Tribeca so we installed an aftermarket hitch instead, for a hitch rack.
I think trunk racks are not the best idea to adapt to a hatchback where more weight is distributed to the top strap hooks instead of the top arm rests. But for a sedan where weight can rest on the upper and lower arms, they make a decent compromise.
With our 2013 Tribeca we got the factory hitch installed at time of purchase (same with our Forester 2.0XT turbo. I installed an Ecohitch Invisi on my 2017 WRX, for a rack, which hides behind the little removable plate in the rear bumper. It works great with our Yakima Holdup 2 rack.
Maybe there is an aftermarket hitch like this for a Tessa? (Pics on request).
Alphbetadog
Active Member
I have the Torklift hitch, and a 1Up rack on my Model S. Both are top quality. I even made a "taillight bar" for extra visibility which will hopefully help me not get rear-ended.
Last edited:
jazz
Well-Known Member
Larry Ganz
Active Member
I bought my WRX Ecohitch Invisi from TorkliftCentral.com and they were easy to buy from and deal with. I'm using a Yakima Holdup 2 with it.
Franklo
New Member
the other thing is the weight of the e-bike. many are 60 lbs or more. it would be hard to find any trunk rack that would be rated for that amount of weight. my bikes are 50 and 43 lbs without the batteries. i would never try to rack them both at the same time. that's kind of pushing it. the platform rack with the hitch mount would be the best bet.
Alphbetadog
Active Member
I would NEVER use a trunk mounted rack on my Tesla. A hitch platform rack is the only way to go. 1Upusa.com makes a very nice heavy-duty platform rack what will support the heavier ebikes. I would also suggest going with the Torklift 2" receiver/hitch for heavier bikes.
Larry Ganz
Active Member
The weight issue is a very good point.
My torklift ecohitch for WRX can support towing 3500 lbs with a 200lb tongue weight. My Yakima rack can hold two 60 lb ebikes and the Yakima itself weighs 49 lbs, so I should be safe with our 43 and 46 lbs Trek bikes.
My torklift ecohitch for WRX can support towing 3500 lbs with a 200lb tongue weight. My Yakima rack can hold two 60 lb ebikes and the Yakima itself weighs 49 lbs, so I should be safe with our 43 and 46 lbs Trek bikes.
neil johnson
New Member
We have a hitch mounted bike carrier that we have a few police departments using, they like the durability (cop bikes are heavy), the security (cops don't like their bikes to fall of during a pursuit) and the adjustability (all bikes can be leveled independently and spaced. We designed it to be anti-theft, but the net result was that it became extremely robust at the same time. I would invite you to view our website at http://scsrack.com or visit our face book page at SCS Racks...
thanks,
Neil
Owner
SCS Racks
thanks,
Neil
Owner
SCS Racks
