Sleek Cars Make Gasoline Cars More Fuel-Efficient and Take Electric Cars Further. But in Their Fight Against Air Resistance, Volkswagen’s Specialists Are Quite Stubborn. They don’t have hidden by Handles or cameras Instead of Side Mirrors.
Airstream Always occurs around a moving car, which is Sometimes Held Back: The Infamous Air Resistance. As a result, the engine has to pull harder and the car becomes more turbulent. That is Why Car Manufacturers Invest A Lot Of Time And Money In Developing A Car With A Sleek Body.
For Once, Volkswagen’s streamline specialists are prepared to share their experiences with a handful of journalists and open the doors of their advanced test laboratories. Here, in Wolfsburg, Germany, They Fight a Daily Battle Against Air Resistance.
Active Spoilers iDEAL But TOO EXPENSive
In All Their Attempts to Innovate, The Engineers Must Keep One Thing in Mind: The Intervention Must Not Be Too Expective, Because The Car Must Remain Affordable. That is simply a requirement if you call your brand Volkswagen. Research Leader Waldemar Maister: “If Money is no object, active, ie movable, spoilers are iDeal, Both front and rear of the car. The same applies to air suspension with level control, so that the car remains nice and low -theer’s close to the, to Thefore close to the, to Thefore Close to Thefore to the, to Thefore to Thefore to Thefore, to Thefore to Thefore to the, to Thefore, to Thefore to Thefore to Thefore to Thefore to Thefore. Better.
Aerodynamics Determines 42 percent Energy Consumption
Aerodynamics Determines 42 percent of A Car’s Energy Consumption, They Know in Wolfsburg. The rest of the fuel or electricity consumption is determined by the weight, the engine and transmission, the rolling resistance of the tires and any accessories. And when it comes to that aerodynamics, the body shape plays the main role in air resistance with 47 percent, followed by the wheel arches: 31 percent.
Opening in The Appearance of a Car Are UndeSirable Anyway: For Example, It Makes A Difference If You Can Make Your Wheels As Close As Possible. The Airflow Under the Car Accounts for 12 percent of the air resistance. The airflow around the engine compartment (including the grille) has a share of 7 percent and the exterior mirrors or 3 percent.
In Addition, For Example, The Windshield Wipers and Exterior Mirrors Get in the way of a streamlined body. “In the latest Models, The Windshield Wipers Are Placed as Much as Possible Under The Hood: That Makes A Difference. Altheghe The Influence of Windshield Wipers is not too bad,” Says Maister. “The airflow first ends up in the middle of the windshield, so not in the area where the windshield wipers are placed. But still, every little bit help helps.”
Wipers Remain because it is a cost issue
The Fact That Windshield Wipers Are Still Used Mainly Has To Do With Costs. A Special Coating also Goes a Long Way to Removing Rainwater from the Windshield. But that is more exensive and our cars are expected to last more than ten years. Will A Coating Still Work by then? Because it is generally know that coating wears out over the years. In Short, Windshield Wipers May Seem Like An Old-Fashioned Solution, But they are still the best compromise. “
Especiate, So that the car is completely smooth in that place too. But then the Rainwater Flows Directly to the Side Windows and Causes Noise Pollution There again. It Therefore Still Proves to Be the Best Solution to Lead the Water to the Roof via Those Rain Gutters. “
Much Progress Has Been Made in Recent Years with Refined Design of the Exterior Mirrors, The Engineers Report: “Because unfortunately, there is still no good alternative for that. Of course, Like Many Other Manufacturers, we have experimented Tinyas Tinyas Tinyas Tinyas Tinyas Tinyas Effect of that is a camera in combination. Viewer More 3D Feeling, A View of Depth, And That Makes It Easier to Estimate Distances. “
Thicker Doors Due to Disappeaaring by Handles
Some manufacturers, Tesla in particular, Have Chosen in recent years to have the by Handles Disappear Into the by when they are not needed. An electric motor then stores them in the Door. At Volkswagen, they don’t think that’s a good solution: “It requires installation space in the Door, which makes it thicker. And the net profit of less air resistance is at most a few hundred meters more range. We’re not going to fight for that,” Says Waldemar.
CD Value Even More Important For Electric Cars
The Air Resistance of a Car is Expressed in CD Value. The Lower the Number, The Less The Air Resistance. That CD Value Has Always Been Important For Fuel Cars, But It is Possible Even More Important For Electric Cars. Because it largely determines How many kilometers you can drive with full batteries.
Streamline Specialists Not Happy with SUVS
A Teardrop-Shaped, Seven-Meter-Long Car would be by far the best for a Maximally Streamlined Body, Maister Knows. “But Nobody Wants to Buy Such a car. In fact, in recent years buyers have massively preferred an suv. Of course, we are not happy with that from our field of expertise. A low nose is best, so the suv with trend.”
Clay model
Once It is Known What a New Car Model Should Look Like, The Aerodynamics Specialists First Make A Clay Model. That model is constantly adjusted with a view to the smallest possible air resistance. Especial in the initial stage, computer simulations are also used: advanced software is used in the computer to simulate how the car model will react to the wind.
But The Real Work Still Takes Place In The Wind Tunnel. Volkswagen’s is one of the largest in the world. An Eight-Meter High Fan Blows The Wind Through A Corridor System More Than 22 Meters Long. At the place where the car stands, wind speeds of up to 250 kilometers per hour can be reached. The car stands on a turntable with sensors, which allows precise measurement of the force and direction in which the wind grips it.
Volkswagen’s Eight-Meter High Fan.
First Wind Tunnel in 1965
The Construction of the First Wind Tunnel In 1965 Already Accompanied by the Promise That Volkswagen would develop Very Economical Models in the Future. The first generation of the passat with a cd value of 0.45 had the scoop at the time. The latest Generation of the Wind Tunnel was well into use in 2020.
The First Model Developed in It is The Current Top Model, The Fully Electric ID.7. Waldemar Maister: “We wanted to achieve a range of 700 kilometers with it for the first time. We succeeded, thanks to the minimal CD Value of 0.23. Under Optimal Conditions, It Can Travel 709 Kilometers One Battery Charge. And We Are Quitey Proud of data.”