Lowest drag coefficient car inspired by tuna fish aerodynamics as Chery boasts AI-assisted 0.168 Cd

Fast swimming fish like bottlenose dolphins or tuna have bodies that evolution has tailored to allow some of the lowest coefficients of drag and they are now serving as inspiration for car designs. One of the biggest automakers in China - Chery - announced a concept called Aero that has been tested in a wind tunnel to have 0.168 Cd, making it one of the most aerodynamic vehicles out there this side of peculiar 3-wheelers with teardrop shape like the Aptera.

The bionic inspiration for the Chery Aero design has been that of a tuna fish which can propel its sleek body with up to 46 mph (74 kph) speeds thanks in part to its aerodynamic shape. To decide on that tuna fish-guided shape, Chery used artificial intelligence to sift through north of two thousand solutions to lower wind resistance.

The carmaker eventually picked 20 of those optimizations, including "multiple active drag reduction black technologies" in order to "achieve the world’s lowest wind resistance of Cd 0.168" for a full-size sedan concept whose technologies will eventually wiggle into production cars.

For comparison, one of the most aerodynamic electric vehicles in mass production - the new Tesla Model 3 Highland facelift - has a wind resistance of 0.219 Cd, while the premium Model S tops out at 0.208 Cd.

Chery is in the top 10 of Chinese automakers and hopefully some of the solutions for lowering the drag coefficient of the Aero will transfer over to its future production models. 

Get the ChargePoint Home Flex 50A EV Charger on Amazon