GM Inside News has issued a patent titled "Method and System for Reconfiguration of Vehicle Geometry", which details how vehicles, mainly self-driving cars, are reconfigured to suit a variety of conditions.
For example, if a self-driving car is going to pick up passengers, there is no passenger in the vehicle. It can fold the roof in the car and slide open a canvas roof. The lower roof will be more aerodynamic , Raise the driving space. When there are many passengers in the car, the car can be expanded into a rectangle. If there are only one or two people, the body will become more sleek.
The patent also shows how the car can effectively close both sides to accommodate a narrow space and push more cars into the parking lot or charging area. Of course, the space and efficiency of the lift by changing the shape must be large enough to prove the required mechanism and extra The rationality of the components.
At present, the rear spoiler of some high-performance cars will move up and down according to the speed of the car. When the car is running slowly, it will reduce the resistance as much as possible. When the speed is high, it will generate additional downforce. The more common design is the active grille shutter. It will The engine needs to be opened when more air is sucked in. It is turned off at other times to reduce drag or accelerate the warm-up process.
If these designs can come out, active aerodynamics technology will be greatly improved.