nissan leaf wipers
 

anyone see this thing? looks like some sort vortex generators just upstream of the wipers? function or perhaps just style?

Also appears to be set in a flat dish at the back of the hood instead of a rising cowl. I've seen this on some other cars although to a lesser extent there must be something to the design.

I just dont see how leaving the wipers exposed could be better?

http://image.automotive.com/f/exotic...ront-right.jpg

exposed
 

windshield wipers can reside within a burble of air in the cowl area at the base of the windshield,offering no measurable drag.Nissan aero folks would be aware of such things and may have considered the exposed wipers a non issue.

Um i agree but it's not gonna use any more gas from the drag It's Electric

I'm gonna say those bumps are pure styling, or they're hiding fasteners or something. Hard to say without seeing it in person. But I will say for sure they're not for aero.

What if you charge it with a gasoline generator? I think we understand that "gas"=fuel, be it hydrogen, electrons, dead babies, etc.

after looking at it in available photo's on line, i can't really see how they should help aero, they even appear to be lower in some pictures, making me wonder if the "ridge" look doesn't come from a reflection.

also the picture shows a break in the smooth line of the bodywork in front of the window as if they're delibirately trying to make the flow sepparate ahead of the windshield.

Well, duh! It's going to use more electric from the drag :-)

My fiancee asked me about putting an alternator on the electric motor to recharge it as you drive, but after realizing that the battery packs need far more power than the alternator can produce, I started wondering about combined recharging methods to further increase the range before the batteries drain.

Of course, you'd have the solar panel roof, but I was also thinking about using wind turbines to power small generators, and run the air behind the car to help fill the wake to a small degree.

It's no perpetual motion machine, but it could at least help you not plug it in as long and save or make a little more power, similar to the radiator duct of the P-51 Mustang.

Maybe that's where the washer fluid comes out?

Here is a link to a video that implies that those bumps have a function :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVwtwhvmK0I

Skip to 10:39 where the guy talks about the aerodynamics of the car.

Point twenty nine Cd ??? And that is with a full smooth belly-pan.

Sad . Just sad.

I still don't buy that bit about the frog eye headlights being needed for wind noise.

Not only did the EV-1 not have them, but the Volt doesn't either...or the Tesla ... or the Fisker Karma.