Mary Barra on aerodynamics

[aerohead]

In the March,2020 issue of MOTOR TREND,page 28,in an interview discussing General Motor's upcoming,2021 BEV SUVs and pickups,GM Chairman and CEO,Mary Barra made a comment relative to buyers of the BEV pickup,'They don't want something that looks like a science experiment.'
Obviously,her experts at the Aerodynamics Lab failed to send the memo explaining that the 'science experiment' look would be the performance edge GM won't be able compensate for,without building a truck which looks remarkably like Cybertruck.Extreme irony,in light of Aero-X,Citation,Sunraycer,Impact,Centaur,Ultralite,EV1 land speed record car,Precept,etc.. Pity!

[oil pan 4]

I think tesla and Nissan proved people want regular looking cars although the leaf is kinda funny looking.

[redpoint5]

The Model 3 sells pretty well despite the unconventional appearance. Tesla achieved a good aesthetic by tossing aside the current trend to over-emphasize the grill. This will become the design trend everyone else follows.

Nissan botched everything from the get-go. They designed an unattractive and un-aerodynamic vehicle, didn't develop thermal management for the hugely costly battery, and then built something with ho-hum performance.

The thing with GM is, they have to fulfill a different niche than Tesla. Their designs can't look too similar otherwise people would just get a Tesla. There's probably a decent market for people that want a conventional looking truck that runs on electricity.

[oil pan 4]

The over emphasis on the grile makes me avoid those years.

[freebeard]

The Model 3 sells pretty well despite the unconventional appearance.

I think Tesla stole the low stagnation point front end design from the VW Beetle.

[Hersbird]

Originally Posted by aerohead

In the March,2020 issue of MOTOR TREND,page 28,in an interview discussing General Motor's upcoming,2021 BEV SUVs and pickups,GM Chairman and CEO,Mary Barra made a comment relative to buyers of the BEV pickup,'They don't want something that looks like a science experiment.'
Obviously,her experts at the Aerodynamics Lab failed to send the memo explaining that the 'science experiment' look would be the performance edge GM won't be able compensate for,without building a truck which looks remarkably like Cybertruck.Extreme irony,in light of Aero-X,Citation,Sunraycer,Impact,Centaur,Ultralite,EV1 land speed record car,Precept,etc.. Pity!

I still think you are projecting good aerodynamics onto the Cybertruck. I bet a 2020 Silverado is already better, a 2020 Ram even more better. There are certainly things that could improve the Cybertruck and some of those things would also make it look more traditional.

[freebeard]

I still think you are projecting good aerodynamics onto the Cybertruck.

I think it's baked into the architecture. The front chamfers and longitudinal edges are way better than the stylizations and flat cab-backs of those legacy designs.

[Xist]

I think that the original Leaf was supposed to look quirky, as if that would appeal to people.

[redpoint5]

The tonneau alone makes the CT more aero than any other traditional truck.

[Xist]

I know that everyone thinks that the top corner is a strength, but if they rolled a curve into the top, they could make air flow in an attached manner.

I hear great things about attached airflow.