IssacZachary
Well-known member
Along with wheel skirts. :mrgreen:LeftieBiker said:That Kammback would sell well as an aftermarket Leaf accessory.
Along with wheel skirts. :mrgreen:LeftieBiker said:That Kammback would sell well as an aftermarket Leaf accessory.
NeilBlanchard said:kidjan said:It's also worth noting that aero mods on an electric vehicle with regenerative braking should result in a bigger efficiency increase than on an ICE vehicle, because any air resistance slowing the vehicle down could have been converted into electricity. In essence, poor aerodynamics are a penalty paid twice by cars with regenerative braking.
Lower drag also means better coasting, and coasting is the best use of the kinetic energy of the moving car. Regen is great for when you need to slow down, but coasting means you accelerate less in the first place, then use it better. Regen is icing on the cake.
lorenfb said:While traveling on freeways (50% of driving) at 60 - 65 MPH in the past, my overall average was about 4.5 miles/kWh.
Presently, my freeway speeds are 50 - 52 MPH. My overall average is now 5.1 miles/kWh. That's about a 13% improvement
without any aero mods, and how simple was that!
Two things:kidjan said:Understood, but when traveling over hilly terrain, or going down a mountain pass, all of that potential energy is either A) converted into kinetic energy, which is then wasted heating brakes or B) reclaimed through regen. I live in Utah; I can add 12% or more driving down little cottonwood because the road is pretty slow and steep (30 to 40 mph). But I do far less well on Parleys (I-80), because the flow of traffic is so much faster. At 60 mph or so, wind eats a lot of the regeneration I could be getting.
I could drive slower, but I'd likely be rear-ended.
VitaminJ said:Two things:kidjan said:Understood, but when traveling over hilly terrain, or going down a mountain pass, all of that potential energy is either A) converted into kinetic energy, which is then wasted heating brakes or B) reclaimed through regen. I live in Utah; I can add 12% or more driving down little cottonwood because the road is pretty slow and steep (30 to 40 mph). But I do far less well on Parleys (I-80), because the flow of traffic is so much faster. At 60 mph or so, wind eats a lot of the regeneration I could be getting.
I could drive slower, but I'd likely be rear-ended.
Under A: you don't need to use the brakes and waste the kinetic energy. Let's say your target speed is 60mph. When coasting downhill you can accelerate to 65-70-75mph without braking, then point the nose of the car up the next hill and wait until the car decelerates back down to 60mph before adding throttle. If you have aero mods you will both gain more speed downhill and bleed less speed off as you coast uphill.
And B: regen is less efficient than just coasting, which was the original point. Regen should only be used when it's absolutely necessary to slow down, like in traffic or going into a corner, red light, etc. and even then it's best to just coast all the way to a stop (but like you said there are rear-ending risks and risks of being a jackass on the road to worry about). But to your example of I-80 downhill, with aero mods you can maintain that faster 60mph speed AND the increased regen of lower speeds because you have effectively lowered the braking force of the drag so for the same speed you can increase the braking force of regen.
Maybe that's exactly your same point haha oh well I already typed it.
That there are times when it's better to regen brake and go slow down a hill, and times when it is better to shift into neutral and let the vehicle speed up. It's not a "this is always better than that" situation. On a long slope it's best to regen brake from the top down most of the way. But if you're close to the bottom, the amount of energy you would get from regen braking would be less than the kinetic momentum you could build up by coasting.kidjan said:I'm really unclear what point you're trying to make. The bottom line is wind resistance is wasted energy that could have been put into regen in many instances--for example going down a long mountain pass--hence the thread on improving aerodynamics.
IssacZachary said:Since driving habits directly affect aerodynamic drag
IssacZachary said:Since driving habits directly affect aerodynamic drag you can't talk about improving aerodynamics and not discuss driving habits and techniques.
kidjan said:IssacZachary said:Since driving habits directly affect aerodynamic drag you can't talk about improving aerodynamics and not discuss driving habits and techniques.
Sure you can. We can all acknowledge faster = more drag = less efficient, and that's about all there is to talk about. It really isn't relevant to a thread about improving the car's aerodynamics.
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