What happened to aerodynamic shaped cars

I doubt they use aluminium to any great extent. It is costlier than steel, not as easy to weld, needs special paints, and can produce peculiar corrosion difficulties. Apart from a few exotica, the only European car that used aluminium for its body panels, above a steel chassis, was the LandRover.

The cars are probably still very aerodynamic, and lighter than in the past for similar volume of vehicle due a lot to intensive use of plastics for body panels and interior trim; but the biggest advances in fuel economy have been from engine development.

As far as weight goes, battery-electric cars are considerably heavier than their i.c. equivalents, bringing problems of their own.

Purely aerodynamic design probably has little real effect at most road speeds; and if taken too far considerably reduces the internal spaces. So the styling is a compromise of low drag and internal space.


There may be an unexpected aspect to this. A friend and were talking recently about our cars' windscreens killing far fewer insects than in the past. Many motorists have commented so, and for a long time it has been taken to show far smaller insect populations. That is likely true, but my friend suggested also that a modern cars' aerodynamics lift the air, and the tiny animals in it, clear over the roof much more effectively than on past designs.

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(The railways experimented with streamlining in the 1930s, and though you can't compare a powerful railway locomotive with its massive front area with a much smaller car, tests revealed the casings made no real difference below 80mph - faster than the mean speed at the time. They looked impressive from a publicity point of view, but that's about all. Some modern articulated lorries are partially streamlined, with air deflectors behind the cab, and vortex-reducing forms on the rear of full box-trailers; but I wonder if that is more useful at reducing spray on wet roads than reducing fuel consumption. )

To make way for the cybertrucks

You should see the tesla truck