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I sent the Tesla Model 3 with / without wheel cover pics to Rob Palin, who led the aerodynamics team on the car.
He wrote:
Yes, they work really well, although we did make a little bit of an interesting aero compromise where we wanted maximum coverage of the fronts, but actually more open area on the rears. At the front we wanted to complete the turn of the air around the front corner of the car, thus minimizing the front wheel wakes.
At the rear of the car, we actually wanted to use the pull of the diffuser to draw the air back to the rear fascia surface behind the tyre, before boat-tailing a little and separating it cleanly. That was a mechanism we'd noted on Model S, where some of the more egregiously 'sporty' wheel styles hadn't had as much of an aero impact as we'd expected, due to this surprising effect at the rear.
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