Nissan Leaf Alternative to Side Mirror Delete

[Varn]

Yes it got me thinking about it over lunch. Maybe a 1"-2" wing might offer some benefit, maybe not. To answer your question who knows till it is tried and tested.

To partially fair my recumbent bike I tested with a 1" 12" high thick foam board at the front of the fairing. Half covered the front wheel and half stuck up.
Here is a picture of the prototype.


and my finished homebuilt.

Originally Posted by cfg83

Varn -

So you're saying I could put a little "ridge" or "fin" in front of my side view mirror and split the air in advance of reaching the mirror? I guess I would verify this with tuft tests and/or listening for reduced buffeting from the wind.

CarloSW2

[Rokeby]

I've been thinking on this Leaf headlight-as-"splitter"-to-reduce-side-mirror-
noise/turbulence idea.

We may have come close to it in the "Plate-on-a-Stick" thread.
That's where architects have found that a precisely dimensioned cylinder or
rectangle placed up-wind of a structure can result in greatly reduced wind
loading or drag on the structure.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...y-11592-2.html

Could the Leaf's "splitter" headlight be acting like the architectural model with
the bodywork of the car acting as the ground (plane?) the headlight as the
upwind airflow interrupter and the side mirror as the downwind structure?

I suspect that given the great size difference between buildings and a side
mirror that Reynolds numbers, scale factors, viscosity, etc will play a role.
At that point, you'll probably loose me... again.

[The Toecutter]

Originally Posted by robchalmers

But trying to park a subcompact with a 3-4ft boat tail maybe a little difficult! even if you do get more trunk space!

Feast your eyes on the Renault Twingo Smile; 0.25 Cd with no boat tail needed.

Twingo Greenpeace

It is a much shorter car than the Leaf. The Leaf, having much more length to work with, could certainly do better...

That being said, the fact that they are actually getting an EV to market at the sub $30k price point is impressive in and of itself. It's just that the hobbyists of 15 years ago were getting similar range in the conversions they built for far less cost and batteries with 1/4 the specific capacity than what the Leaf has...

[Cd]

So what is a grille doing on an electric car anyways ?

This car is an excellent candidate for a full grille block.
The chrome strip looks like dental braces.

[The Toecutter]

Originally Posted by Cd

So what is a grille doing on an electric car anyways ?

It's the result of letting the accountants and stylists dictate vehicle design, as opposed to giving engineers the ability to design what is functional.

A grill is useless on an EV with a liquid-cooled motor and control system...

[richtate]

It's just that the hobbyists of 15 years ago were getting similar range in the conversions they built for far less cost and batteries with 1/4 the specific capacity than what the Leaf has...

True, but the batteries were lead acid and the weight was 500% that of the new (expensive) lithium-ion batteries used today. If you used the EV Kit's out there but used lithium-ion batteries, instead of inexpensive lead acid, it would cost as much as the production LEAF in all probability.