[NeilBlanchard]

This is great! Mainstream car magazines are picking up on what we already know: aerodynamic drag is critical to car efficiency.

http://www.teslamotors.com/sites/def...n-the-road.pdf

Aerodynamic Tesla Model S Electric Car Wins The Wind-Tunnel Wars

Wind tunnel contests!

Bring 'em on!

Interestingly, only the Model S and Volt lived up to their official drag coefficient numbers, of 0.24 and 0.28 respectively. The Prius missed out by a hair, at 0.26 compared to an official 0.25.

The Leaf, Mercedes, and old Insight were all significantly higher than their official figures, however.

Nissan's car returned a 0.32 figure in the wind tunnel, against an official 0.28. The Insight should have matched the Prius at 0.25, but came back at 0.30, and the CLA matched that figure--missing out significantly on its official 0.23.