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transit
I don't see any easy remedies for the commercial vehicles.The aerodynamic challenge to reduced fuel consumption involves the enormous wake behind the vehicle.Some sort of boattail extension is the remedy,however it requires either an inflated envelope used only for higher speed extra-urban travel,or a teardrop/tadpole trailer with gap-fillers(as used on commercial 10-wheel/18-wheel lorries), which fill the void between tractor and trailer.The trailer would be empty,could have only one wheel,and serve only to sculpt and fill the wake,long enough,that at its rear,the airflow would finally separate at a cross-sectional area no larger than 50% of the frontal area of the vehicle,as recommended by Dr.Wunibald Kamm, Dr.Walter Korff and others.------------------------------- So far,the world hasn't been ready for anything like that,and there is nothing commercially available.So you're kinda on your own.It would mean a 25% increase in highway economy.----------------------------------- If you've ever seen a picture of NASA's Space Shuttle being ferried on top of the Boeing 747,with its boattail cone attached,you'll have an idea of what I'm talking about.That cone cuts drag by 100%.
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