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| Shell Eco-Marathon Vehicle Example |
Ultra low CD aerodynamic 0.1 or less cross sectional drag penalty to push air out of the way
Ultralight super low mass composite shell with thin plastic window in front, no side or rear windows
Ultra low rolling resistance high pressure tires (road bike like) on carbon wheels of ultra low mass, or forged aluminum alloy (low mass, cheaper)
Vehicle shell covers the wheels & very smooth all around, and under, on the sides, above and comes to a narrow slipstream rear that allows smooth laminar flow without turbulent drag. This way the air going around the vehicle can slip off the back with the least amount of turbulence inducing dray penalty. Aircraft designers have utilized these aero focused design features for nearly 100 years. Automakers have been selling relatively low-brow engineering rounded rectangles by comparison.
Cameras for the side mirrors and rear view camera with bright LCD, OLED or similar screens inside the cabin cockpit to give better driver visibility safety.
Lower to the ground to reduce ground effect drag, and stiffer suspension to avoid wasting energy.
In the Shell Eco-Marathon the prototype vehicles made by student teams are operated on a competitive basis on smooth tracks that are mostly flat.
These learning & technologies are not always easily adaptable to a safe roadworthy passenger car in terms of metal stamping mass manufacturing analogs that are robust for car accidents in ways that protect the driver or passenger. These prototype vehicles are also too small, hard to get in and out of and make use of expensive elite bicycle technology from bicycles that cost as much as liter sport motorcycles, materials techniques from elite carbon carbon tennis rackets or technology from satellite level technology batteries and aerospace, with engine superlatives like ceramic bearings & system level design focus on minimizing fuel use with every trick under the sun, that VW used in the XL1.
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| VW XL1 Prototype / 2014 Retail Sales Germany 200 units (Limited Production) IRL |
Shell Eco-Marathon vehicles are education engineering examples for STEM competition to encourage students to become leaders in the future.
So what can new future laws do incentivize the world's automakers to adopt learnings from these events that have been held in more than 50 countries for 35 years?
Can we have the Congress or Senate of the USA & executives from the worlds automakers come together to watch a documentary film about emerging hyper energy efficient vehicle technologies using existing tech off the shelf ideas & stuff already used in other products for a long time now. Perhaps the executives from automotive suppliers that supply parts to the automakers could also attend! Consider it a transportation decarbonization symposium or exposition.
Aptera makes a solar battery electric car that takes cues from these superlative efficiency examples. Quick and hyper energy efficient, safe & practical.
Please visit their website and consider replacing your wasteful antiquated car with one of these amazing vehicles! https://aptera.us/
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