Aeromod nissan leaf improved aerodynamics increased range

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VitaminJ said:
kidjan, I apologize for kicking it off. Everyone is agreeing with eachother very sternly. Everyone is pretty much saying the same thing.

Me too.

It's common on forums for everyone to be arguing thinking everyone else has it wrong when they actually all agree on the same point but are only emphasizing a certain aspect of the same point.

I wish I had more time to get some aeromods on my Leaf. I'm planning a 360 miles round trip this weekend and the weather is predicting up to 15mph winds.

Here's an aeromod for you. An air speed indicator. Ok, so yes this has more to do with driving techniques again. But it would be really handy to have and would complement your other aeromods.
 
Airspeed sensor, that might help. I actually have a bunch of pitot tubes and sensors and stuff from my drones... That might help on long drives, but it'd be similar to driving for a target power figure. Instead you drive for a target airspeed. It's hard to judge wind strength from inside the car but I think a target power setting gets you 90% there.
 
To clarify what I was saying about coasting and regen: coasting is for when you want to carry speed and keep moving the car forward - and regen is for when you need to slow down.

If I owned our Leaf, I would have considered replacing the side view optical mirrors with video mirrors:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/scion-xa-aero-mods-2969-17.html#post106080

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/scion-xa-aero-mods-2969-18.html#post106284

http://neilblanchard.blogspot.com/2010/09/eyes-forward-video-mirrors-on-my-xa.html

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/scion-xa-aero-mods-2969-38.html#post242809

DSC_7425.jpg


Doing this helps drag two ways: reduces the frontal area and lowers the Cd, as well. And, it reduces / eliminates blind spots.

Other aeromods to my old Scion xA:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/scion-xa-aero-mods-2969-31.html#post175899

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/scion-xa-aero-mods-2969-51.html#post447649

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/scion-xa-aero-mods-2969-52.html#post447681
 
NeilBlanchard said:
If I owned our Leaf, I would have considered replacing the side view optical mirrors with video mirrors

I wonder if after deleting the mirrors if flattening the headlight fixtures would decrease drag. It seems the lights are that shape only to reduce noise by diverting are around the mirrors. But without mirrors those lights would not be necessary. It seems the Nismo Leaf doesn't have such bulky headlights.

Nissan-Leaf-Nismo-RC-4.jpg
 
IssacZachary said:
NeilBlanchard said:
If I owned our Leaf, I would have considered replacing the side view optical mirrors with video mirrors

I wonder if after deleting the mirrors if flattening the headlight fixtures would decrease drag. It seems the lights are that shape only to reduce noise by diverting are around the mirrors. But without mirrors those lights would not be necessary. It seems the Nismo Leaf doesn't have such bulky headlights.

That would be a very tough mod to do. A Kamm back would be the biggest payback, I think.
 
NeilBlanchard said:
A Kamm back would be the biggest payback, I think.

It definitely would be, at least before a full tall. :mrgreen:

I need to get a kammback on my Leaf this year. If I get to it I'd like to do a full, but removable, "boat" tail (I prefer the term "airplane tail without wings").
 
I don't think camera side mirrors will ever really work with a flat screen. On the Bolt it is built into the rear-view mirror, and people report it's almost unusable because when you're driving your eyes are focused way out in front of you and a mirror let's you maintain that same focus range and look behind you. A video screen requires your eyes to re-focus on the screen itself at a much closer distance which causes problems. Maybe some sort of holographic screen that could project a 3D image and mimic a mirror would work.

Well I mean of course camera mirrors work lol but not for a production vehicle. Someone will probably do it to their Leaf, or maybe already has, but it won't be me!
 
VitaminJ said:
Airspeed sensor, that might help. I actually have a bunch of pitot tubes and sensors and stuff from my drones... That might help on long drives, but it'd be similar to driving for a target power figure. Instead you drive for a target airspeed. It's hard to judge wind strength from inside the car but I think a target power setting gets you 90% there.
Yes, for long distance travel.

In my case I calculated how much percent of SOC I should have at certain intervals. When going from Gunnison to Montrose the miles per kWh gauge either shows about 1 mile per kWh going up hills and above 8 miles per kWh going down hills making it not so handy. Maybe I could figure out how to use the average function, but then again I would have to calculate each interval and print it out. If I hit an interval with too little then I have to go slower until the next interval and try to make up for it. Or of I have more then I can go faster.

I think an airspeed indicator could be more accurate in terms of resolution compared to the miles per kWh gauge. It would allow me to figure out if I need to or can go slower or faster at the moment too, instead of relying solely on comparing results at intervals.
 
VitaminJ said:
I don't think camera side mirrors will ever really work with a flat screen. On the Bolt it is built into the rear-view mirror, and people report it's almost unusable because when you're driving your eyes are focused way out in front of you and a mirror let's you maintain that same focus range and look behind you. A video screen requires your eyes to re-focus on the screen itself at a much closer distance which causes problems. Maybe some sort of holographic screen that could project a 3D image and mimic a mirror would work.

Well I mean of course camera mirrors work lol but not for a production vehicle. Someone will probably do it to their Leaf, or maybe already has, but it won't be me!

I drove with video side mirrors for over 5 years, and I had no such problems with it.
 
NeilBlanchard said:
VitaminJ said:
I don't think camera side mirrors will ever really work with a flat screen. On the Bolt it is built into the rear-view mirror, and people report it's almost unusable because when you're driving your eyes are focused way out in front of you and a mirror let's you maintain that same focus range and look behind you. A video screen requires your eyes to re-focus on the screen itself at a much closer distance which causes problems. Maybe some sort of holographic screen that could project a 3D image and mimic a mirror would work.

Well I mean of course camera mirrors work lol but not for a production vehicle. Someone will probably do it to their Leaf, or maybe already has, but it won't be me!

I drove with video side mirrors for over 5 years, and I had no such problems with it.
Don't we all have to focus our eyes differently to look at the instrument cluster? Maybe cars in the future will have holographic instrument clusters and gauges.

On the other hand I wonder what laws there are regarding mirrors. Seems like the never-sold Aptera originally was going to have cameras and no mirrors. Then they had to put mirrors on it due to the regulations. Not that the laws can't be reversed. In 1968 the VW Beetle lost its classic bulb-in-lens-housing headlights due to new regulations stipulating that the headlights had to be a single sealed unit. But nowadays there isn't a car that hasn't gone back to the bulb-in-lens-housing style.
 
Saw a new VW GTI in traffic the other day and noticed a little trick aero device that is new on the sides of the rear hatch tying into the spoiler. It's almost like a Gurney-flap, my guess is some sort of vortex generator to keep air attached around the rear of the hatch to create a virtual kammback.

Untitled.png
 
Temperatures rising and using AC more so I cut a little hole about 3x6" in the center of the grill block. I'll start small and expand as I see fit. I wasn't seeing any overheating conditions but noticing the fans running more often and also the outside temperature gauge is not accurate, especially when using the AC and shows 20-30F above ambient meaning that there is not much airflow under the hood even at highway speeds. Good for drag, bad for AC.

IMAG0736_1.jpg


Check out the damage the little coroplast block has taken over about 2 months. Might be worth it to upgrade to G10 or hell even carbon fiber :mrgreen:

IMAG0733.jpg
 
IssacZachary said:
NeilBlanchard said:
VitaminJ said:
I don't think camera side mirrors will ever really work with a flat screen. On the Bolt it is built into the rear-view mirror, and people report it's almost unusable because when you're driving your eyes are focused way out in front of you and a mirror let's you maintain that same focus range and look behind you. A video screen requires your eyes to re-focus on the screen itself at a much closer distance which causes problems. Maybe some sort of holographic screen that could project a 3D image and mimic a mirror would work.

Well I mean of course camera mirrors work lol but not for a production vehicle. Someone will probably do it to their Leaf, or maybe already has, but it won't be me!

I drove with video side mirrors for over 5 years, and I had no such problems with it.
Don't we all have to focus our eyes differently to look at the instrument cluster? Maybe cars in the future will have holographic instrument clusters and gauges.

On the other hand I wonder what laws there are regarding mirrors. Seems like the never-sold Aptera originally was going to have cameras and no mirrors. Then they had to put mirrors on it due to the regulations. Not that the laws can't be reversed. In 1968 the VW Beetle lost its classic bulb-in-lens-housing headlights due to new regulations stipulating that the headlights had to be a single sealed unit. But nowadays there isn't a car that hasn't gone back to the bulb-in-lens-housing style.

Tesla, Ford, GM, VW - and many others have wanted to use side video mirrors. If we cannot even get this basic kind of law changed - then there is NO CHANCE we will see autonomous cars, for a very long time.
 
VitaminJ said:
Temperatures rising and using AC more so I cut a little hole about 3x6" in the center of the grill block. I'll start small and expand as I see fit. I wasn't seeing any overheating conditions but noticing the fans running more often and also the outside temperature gauge is not accurate, especially when using the AC and shows 20-30F above ambient meaning that there is not much airflow under the hood even at highway speeds. Good for drag, bad for AC.

IMAG0736_1.jpg


Check out the damage the little coroplast block has taken over about 2 months. Might be worth it to upgrade to G10 or hell even carbon fiber :mrgreen:

IMAG0733.jpg

Glad to see someone out of thier armchair posting results. So what kind of gain are you seeing?

My styrofoam grill block collected quite a bit of embedded debrree like that, the most interesting was an embedded quarter!

Being a motorcycle riders that made me cringe...

My current choice in a non intrusive field expideiant grille block is a 7$ piece of rain gutter filter from home Depot. This triangular piece of open pore filter foam allows an amount of positive air flow, yet still yeilds gains within a few percent of a solid grill block, and can be easily stuffed in and out at will...
 
Breaks my heart that true aero cars or kits aren't avail. Prob is, the kind of people that want them are inherently cheap, hence their purchase of an econo car (or EV). I think a removable boat tail (attached to a tralier hitch receiver) would be awesome along with some wheel covers and/or fender skirts, grill block & mirror delete kit (if they could ever be made legal somehow). It certainly would be a cheaper alternative to a new battery pack and could increase range by a significant amount by doing all those things. Prob could be sold for less than half the price of a new battery pack.

Oh well. Instead we are stuck putting pizza pans on our wheels to try and gain 1-2% range. Praying for the day that manufacturers make some functionality compromises in the name of TRUE AERO. Until then, we can dream and keep making references to the "Aero Civic." Lolz. :(
 
VitaminJ said:
Aeromods stage 2!
Im a subscriber and saw that one when you uploaded it. So do you think the wheels on the leaf having openings like they do are best covered up? I thought maybe they are like that for a reason other than to simply make them with less weight. I was going to get some corrugated plastic and cut them into circles and put them over my wheels and see if I notice a difference. Probably have to hold them on with zip ties.
 
DuncanCunningham said:
VitaminJ said:
Aeromods stage 2!
Im a subscriber and saw that one when you uploaded it. So do you think the wheels on the leaf having openings like they do are best covered up? I thought maybe they are like that for a reason other than to simply make them with less weight. I was going to get some corrugated plastic and cut them into circles and put them over my wheels and see if I notice a difference. Probably have to hold them on with zip ties.

Wheel discs are good for 1mpg on an ICE car, that may translate to about 1-2 mpg more per charge on a Leaf. Consider that adding 6psi increase in tire pressure adds 2-3 miles per charge. Pizza pans are aluminum and therefore light, and they're also cheap at $4-8 a pan. I've yet to do them because the wife would kill me if she had to be seen in the car. And because, well...if I have to count on an extra 1-2% improvement in range on freeway driving, I'm driving the wrong car. Corrugated plastic seems like a decent Idea but would be more work than a pizza pan.
 
The slots in wheels are there not just for styling but also to help cool the rotors and calipers. It might or might not matter if there were no slots on a Leaf - it would depend on the climate and how hard the brakes were used.
 
LeftieBiker said:
The slots in wheels are there not just for styling but also to help cool the rotors and calipers. It might or might not matter if there were no slots on a Leaf - it would depend on the climate and how hard the brakes were used.
I was wondering that since, they hardly get used compared to most cars, but it doesn't mean that the leaf doesn't need any kind of cooling of brakes.
 
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