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Right, when Cd gets lower, the frontal area has lower "influence" on the drag. The Insight only divides it's frontal area by 4, while the EV1 divides it's frontal area by 5.
If you start with a frontal area of 16 sq ft (the VW XL1 is 1.5 sq m = 16.15 sq ft) and with a Cd of 0.20, that equals CdA of 3.2 sq ft. To have the same CdA on a car with a Cd of 0.25, the frontal area would have to be 12.8 sq ft. Which is tiny.
Have the Cd 20% less allows the frontal area to be 25% larger; in this case, anyway.
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