[RahulNagaraj]

Hyundai Motor Group has unveiled its new 'Active Air Skirt Technology' (AAS) for its electric vehicles. The Korean carmaker claims that the new tech allows its EVs to offer better performance and also boosts range.

As per reports, the tech deploys air skirts in front of the leading tyres to minimise turbulence caused by the wheels. The air skirts are activated once the EV exceeds 80 km/h and retracts when it slows down below 70 km/h. The tech has been installed on the Genesis GV60 for testing. As per the test results, the AAS tech helped reduce the car's drag coefficient (Cd) by 0.008. Apart from this, the tech also helps increase downforce at speeds above 200 km/h.



Sun Hyung Cho, VP & Head of Mobility Body Development Group, Hyundai Motor Group, stated, "This technology is expected to have a greater effect on models such as SUVs where it is difficult to improve aerodynamic performance." Cho added, "We will continue to strive to improve the driving performance and stability of electric vehicles through improvements in aerodynamics."

The tech is still in development, with the company having applied for its patent in South Korea and the USA. The company plans to consider mass production after durability and performance tests.

Link to Team-BHP news

[123.rishabh]

Reminded me of a similar technology which was available almost 2 decades back in the 1994 Mitsubishi 3000 GT / GTO sports car by the name of Active Aero Technology

[EV Fan]

Originally Posted by RahulNagaraj

As per reports, the tech deploys air skirts in front of the leading tyres to minimise turbulence caused by the wheels. The air skirts are activated once the EV exceeds 80 km/h and retracts when it slows down below 70 km/h.

The Kona already has a permanent air skirt, basically not retractable and is the one which ends up scrapping sometimes.


Image courtesy:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/elect...al-review.html (Hyundai Kona : Official Review)

Though it does act as a warning sign - if this scraps then high chances the under-body battery plate is likely to take a hit, so provides a measure to deploy all evasive maneuvers and possibly save a heart burn.

[BRZRKR]

The press release also states that a range improvement of 6 km was observed. I would assume that lowering the wheel sizes by 1 or even 2 inches would yield more range improvement.

[AMG Power]

Air skirts are available on most cars.

Its just that they are fixed and not ‘active’.