The Toecutter said:
John Wayland . . once wrote an article about a Honda Insight he drove, that the owner modified with a turbo charger. Fuel economy stayed the same when driven normally, 0-60 mph dropped to about 7 seconds when the accelerator was floored, the front wheel drive and the associated traction issues imposed being the limiting factor to its performance. A more powerful electric drivetrain could have accomplished the same thing and then some without stressing the engine.
Absolutely. There are all sorts of amazing mods that have been made - and designing a new EV system for an Insight would not reduce the gas mileage at all (or very little) while giving you a huge amount of acceleration. But at the time that it was sold, no one was going to buy a tiny 2-seater with a 3 cylinder engine for performance.
Compare that to the Tesla Model 3 which is even more aerodynamic. The 3 has been selling about 150k units a year, +/- a few 10k depending upon supply line disruptions and parts availability limiting production. It's outselling the Prius by a ratio of 3:1. Cd of the Model 3 is 0.21-.23 depending on what wind tunnel it was tested at. Tesla can't sell enough to meet demand.
Yep. Tesla has done more for EV's than any other manufacturer, ever - and that is 90% due to the fact that they have changed the perception of EV's from overpriced golf carts to the car that drivers get if they want the fastest car on the road (and can afford it.) That's the Model S of course, but the Model 3 / Model Y gets a lot of popularity through association.
That's always been the excuse, and it's not true.
It is what has been driving car design for decades. Not that people don't want aerodynamics - it is that people simply don't care much. They are far more interested in having a car that identifies them in the way they want to be identified, as a rugged individualist, or as a guy who hauls two tons of rebar in their truck, or as someone who drives into the mountains on fire roads and goes fishing. Whether or not any of that is true, that's what they want.
Modern cars have most of the styling cues to mimic an extremely slippery streamliner, without the actual streamlining to go along with it. Very subtle changes, almost unnoticeable to the naked eye, to a modern car, can radically reduce its drag.
Also agreed. A body pan is almost completely invisible and does a lot. The reason more car companies don't implement that more often is that you can't see it, and thus few people care. But it does increase purchase cost, and so they cut it to be able to make their vanilla 4-seater cheaper than the competition.
The one thing that they DO care about is MPG rating, but only when gas is expensive. And aerodynamics gets you there. So in a very real way, the only thing that will make most car manufacturers care about significantly improving aerodynamics is gas price.
But why would the auto industry go through the effort to do that to improve fuel economy 50% and greatly increase potential top speed when they decide to go through the trouble to place massive drag-inducing predator grilles on your new Lexus and fake vents all over your new Toyota Supra to show off the brand's "distinctive" design language?
Again, at the end of the day, there's only one reason - gas prices.
Nikola starts production.
