The Aerodynamics of the VW ID.3 Electric Car
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The Aerodynamics of the VW ID.3 Electric Car
AUTHORS
Dr. Tarik Barth is Design Engineer Aerodynamic at Volkswagen AG in Wolfsburg (Germany).
Dr. Axel Fischer is Design Engineer Aerodynamic at Volkswagen AG in Wolfsburg (Germany).
Mathias Hähnel is Design Engineer Aerodynamic at Volkswagen AG in Wolfsburg (Germany).
Dr. Christoph Lietmeyer is Head of Subdivision Development Aerodynamic Compact Car at Volkswagen AG in Wolfsburg (Germany).
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With a drag coefficient of 0.26, the VW ID.3 leads the pack when it comes to the battery electric vehicle class for hatchback vehicles. Accordingly, aerodynamics make a crucial contribution to achieving the ambitious electric range targets of up to 550 km in the WLTP. Volkswagen reached this target by using a consistent aerodynamic optimization approach for the vehicle that went from the new modular electric drive assembly matrix all the way to the base body design, the wheels and the add-on parts such as the exterior mirrors.
PROPERTIES AND DEVELOPMENT PREMISES
As a trailblazing response to the Paris Agreement targets and the stricter CO2 emission limits that go with them, Volkswagen is starting a vehicle strategy with more than 20 models that have a purely electric drive. The leading pioneer is the ID.3, which has the characteristics of a compact vehicle. Customers have a variety of battery sizes, with the corresponding ranges of 330 to 550 km as per the WLTP, available to them. The delivered range depends not only on the battery variant, but also on the vehicle’s road load. A decisive part of this – and the most important one after a speed of approximately 60 km/h – is drag, which is the product of drag coefficient cD and cross-sectional area (A). As described in [1], the acceleration resistance, which is a function of vehicle weight, is less important in
Battery-electric Vehicles (BEVs) than in conventional powertrains, since regenerative braking can be used to convert part of the braking energy back into electrical energy. Since this is not the case with drag, special attention was paid to the aerodynamic quality of the base vehicle body when developing the ID.3. Improving the cD value by 0.010 results in a range increase of approximately 6 km in WLTP, which highlights the need for low drag. Within this context, one particular challenge was to take the conditions for the new modular electric drive matrix (MEB) and the relevant styling and dimensional design specifications and develop an aerodynamically optimized whole vehicle based on them. In particular, it is worth pointing out the following essential vehicle properties, which had to be observed in the course of the aerodynamic development process in order to achieve the ambitious range targets:
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FIGURE 1 shows the main areas of focus for aerodynamic development, which were introduced in a staggered manner but ultimately ran simultaneously for the most part, and the development tools used within this context. The first step was developing the MEB platform, with the main emphasis being on an coo
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