EV 1 resurrection?

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

the Insight is 0.25 and the EV1 is ~0.20.

Thanks for the feed-back and information.

I'm guessing that the CdA's are even closer, with the slippery EV-1 being the larger of the two vehicles in the nose to nose image I found on the Internet (which is not to scale).

[NeilBlanchard]

The CdA of the EV1 is 3.96 sq ft.

The CdA of the Honda Insight is 5.0 sq ft.

The CdA of the VW XL1 is 3.05 sq ft. (1.5sq m x Cd 0.189)

Vehicle Coefficient of Drag List - EcoModder

So no, the EV1 is significantly lower drag than the Insight. And the VW XL1 is far lower drag than the EV1.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

the EV1 is significantly lower drag than the Insight.

That is so weird, the EV-1 is the wider and taller car, frontal area not as important as Cd in this case.

The overlaid images are guesstimates based on length and width numbers I was able to obtain. They may be slightly off in scale.

Automobile 2 - Odds And Ends Photos by kach22i | Photobucket

[NeilBlanchard]

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.