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Tesla Semi Truck – cutting through the air

Aerodynamic thoughts on the new Tesla Semi


2018 01 05
When large amounts or cargo need to be delivered at specific locations, heavy-duty trucks
offer a very practical solution: door-to-door transport connecting most locations that are
accessible via the often-dense road networks. But lately, heavy-duty transport in general has
been facing increasing pressure: lorries, buses and coaches produce around a quarter of
CO2 emissions from road transport in the EU and around 5% of the EU’s total greenhouse
gas emissions – a greater share than international aviation or shipping (EU).
With stricter CO2 regulations being drafted and released in various parts of the world, action
is being taken. On the power generation side, engines are becoming more and more efficient
to reduce fuel consumption. On the power consumption side, efforts are made to reduce
aerodynamic drag, as it constitutes more than 50% to keep a truck moving at 60 mph.
But this is not easy: typically, trucks and trailers are bulky objects that have been stretched
to make use of every cubic inch that is allowed by road regulations (such as maximum length
& height). It’s not hard to see that the aerodynamic efficiency of conventional box-shaped
trucks is quite low. This efficiency is typically expressed via the drag coefficient Cd (a
measure for how streamlined a body is irrespective of its size – lower is better), typically
between 0.5 and 0.8 for heavy duty trucks (including the trailer).
Despite numerous research initiatives featuring curved trailers, rear-end fairings, enclosed
wheels etc., the majority of heavy-duty trucks on the road still feature the conventional boxy
outfit. Recently however, Tesla launched their Semi truck: without any constraints imposed by
existing platforms, component supplier contracts or previous truck designs, they took a
radical approach. They claim a drag coefficient of 0.35, doubling its aerodynamic efficiency
compared to normal trucks and putting it on par with drag coefficients of typical road cars.
So how real are these claims? To find out, we used our online aerodynamics platform
(AirShaper) to automatically go from a 3D model to a finished simulation report. As for the 3D
model itself, we asked our partnering engineering firm Voxdale to build a 3D model of the
new Tesla Semi: based solely on images off the internet, they took a conservative approach
whenever in doubt, making it slightly boxier. As a reference, Voxdale also drew a
conventional truck, in its most competitive setup possible (e.g. very small gap between truck
and trailer), to make the comparison as tough as possible.
The results? A drag value of 0.35 for the Tesla truck and 0.43 for the reference truck. Our
estimation is that with more detailed models, these values may still vary, although the
addition of more details (which typically increases drag) is probably compensated by a
smoother shape (instead of our internet-image-based 3D model for Tesla). For the reference
truck, the shape itself is already quite close and the addition of details might further increase
drag values. Nevertheless, the Tesla Semi already reduces drag by 20%.
But numbers don’t tell the full story: how did they actually achieve this? Once a simulation is
done, it needs to be translated into facts & visuals that can be interpreted towards design
improvements. A typical example is to show 3D clouds of the “under pressure” (suction
effect), as shown in the images below. The bluer the cloud, the lower the “under pressure”
and possibly the greater the contribution to drag. It’s clear to see why they have replaced the
mirrors with short camera sticks!

Another way of analyzing the aerodynamics is to look at pressure on the surface of the
object. A flat plate positioned perpendicular to the wind will typically cause a lot of pressure
build-up. The same goes for a boxy truck, with a large frontal face trying to push away all the
air at once. The images below show this pressure pattern for both trucks. It is clear that the
swept back profile and the tapered shape (in top view) of the Tesla Semi cabin do a great job
at reducing the pressure build-up. Perfectly aligning the cabin with the trailer (note the top
corners!) also helps a great deal.

The tricks Tesla pulled do not stop there: the trailer was pulled as close as possible to the
truck to reduces the gap between both, avoiding large turbulence zones. The truck’s rear
wheels were shielded to reduce air disturbance, around the wheels but also further
downstream. Even the wheel caps are slick & flat!
So, do we believe the figures stated by Tesla? Until we receive a fully detailed 3D model
from Mr. Elon Musk it remains impossible to provide a final conclusion, but all indicates that
they have indeed pulled it off. We hope that by providing automated simulations &
visualizations through our AirShaper platform, we can enable other designers & engineers to
optimize the aerodynamics of their truck, bus, drone etc. to reduce emissions and increase
range & top speed!
To download the reports of both trucks:
www.airshaper.com/reports/truck.pdf
www.airshaper.com/reports/tesla_semi.pdf

More information on AirShaper (www.airshaper.com – info@airshaper.com)


AirShaper is an online aerodynamics platform that features an automated flow to go from
digital 3D model all the way to a finished simulation report. This virtual wind tunnel allows
designers & engineers to improve the aerodynamic performance of their digital 3D model.
AirShaper is based in Antwerp, Belgium, and is supported by a number of initiatives such as
startit@KBC, Vlaio and IMEC.istart.

Bibliography
AirShaper. (n.d.). Online aerodynamics platform. Retrieved from https://www.airshaper.com
EU. (n.d.). Reducing CO2 emissions from Heavy-Duty Vehicles. Retrieved from
https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/transport/vehicles/heavy_en

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