Tech boosts range, performance
Hyundai Motor Company, together with sister company Kia, has unveiled technology to help maximise range and performance in their electric vehicles without altering the powertrain.
The technology is called an Active Air Skirt, AAS, and is designed specifically for electric vehicles, EVS — enabling them to go further and faster through controlling the turbulence generated during high-speed driving by operating variably depending on the vehicle’s speed.
The AAS is installed between the front bumper and front wheels and is hidden during normal operation but deploys at speeds more than 80kmh when aerodynamic resistance becomes greater than the air resistance.
It is stowed automatically once vehicle speed drops below 70kmh.
The system was devised in conjunction with Hyundai and Kia’s E-GMP electric vehicle platform development, taking into account the specificity of the platform.
The technology improves aerodynamics through increased downforce, which, in turn, improves vehicle traction and high-speed stability.
It was validated on the Genesis GV60 with an expected reduction in the drag coefficient of 2.8 percent thereby improving the driving range.
The AAS system operates on air entering through the lower part of the bumper and effectively controls the turbulence generated around the vehicle’s wheels, which is often large.
Hyundai and Kia prioritised the technology as a means of gaining a competitive advantage through securing a better driving range from a single charge.
Fierce competition on battery range
in the EV segment has brought the relationship between vehicles and aerodynamics into sharp focus — especially as aerodynamic performance has such a significant impact not only on performance, but also on driving stability and wind noise.
In response, manufacturers are exploring various measures to reduce the drag coefficient, which is the resistance coefficient of air acting in
the opposite direction of the vehicle’s motion.
Detailed examination of the Hyundai and Kia AAS reveals the drag reducing skirts only cover the front part of the tyres without completely covering the front because they are more effective at improving aerodynamic performance when only covering the tyre part since the E-GMP platform floor is flat. The system can also operate at speeds reaching more than 200kmh thanks to the use of a rubber material on the lower skirt section which reduces the risk of external objects splashing and damaging while driving at high speeds.
Measurements from testing reveal the skirts reduced the drag coefficient by 0.008, improving drag by 2.8 percent as fitted to a test Genesis GV60 which correlates to an additional expected range improvement of about six kilometres.
“This technology is expected to have a greater effect on models such as SUVS where it is difficult to improve aerodynamic performance,” Hyundai Motor Group vice-president and head of mobility body development group, Sun Hyung Cho, said.
“We will continue to strive to improve the driving performance and stability of electric vehicles through improvements in aerodynamics.”
The system and related parts are under patent application in the US and South Korea.
Hyundai and Kia are using other air-shaping technologies to optimise efficiency in EVS including rear spoilers, active air flaps, wheel air curtains, wheel gap reducers and separation traps.
OUT AND ABOUT: Communities across the Wimmera and Grampians gathered for Australia Day events last week. Pictured are, clockwise from above: Poppy, 3, and Jake Mcmillan at Horsham’s Australia Day service; new citizens, from left, Francoise, Caleb, Nikita and Louis Claassen in Horsham; Amelia Pretorius, Hindmarsh Shire Council’s young citizen of the year Chelsea Elliott and Ocean Mcdonald at the Dimboola Australia Day service; Tahir Siddiqui congratulates his wife Sufia on becoming an Australian citizen at Horsham’s service; Sue Moore and Anne Mahony in Horsham; Mandy Myers and Wendy Searle prepare for Dimboola’s Australia Day service; and centre, Australia Day ambassador Georgia Atkin-smith during Horsham’s service.