Can anyone attempt to explain this without my head exploding from a details overload?
I'm prepared to have a go, but perhaps you should have someone on standby ready to clear up the mess, just in case I fail.
Here goes, I'll start with the obvious:
If two motors are sharing the same load, each motor is only doing half the work of a single motor doing all the work.
Here comes the interesting bit:
If you look at a performance curve for these motors, you should notice that after a certain point, the efficiency starts to decrease as the load on the motor is increased.
Because both motors are now running with much less load on them, they are able to run at a greater efficiency level, thereby consuming less combined current than a single motor producing the same amount of power output.
So, if the dual motors are using less battery power to maintain the same speed, you should be able to go even further on the same battery.
Gary, I'm guessing your head is still in one piece!
But if I'm wrong, my deepest condolences go to Gary's family, he was a good man and he will be greatly missed by all of us.
Alan