[Audi E-Tron News]

At least not the usual side mirror one sees on any other vehicle. Instead, Audi plans to offer buyers side cameras that looks like small water spouts.

When it comes to electric vehicles, aerodynamics plays a large role on how far a car can travel on a single charge. Every little detail was scrutinized to figure out where they can shave off a bit of drag from the Audi E-Tron and one area where it could be improved was along the side.

These optional cameras are mounted to little winglets where the standard side mirrors are usually located. Shaped like a horizontal water spout, the design helps reduce drag and wind noise.

Images captured by the cameras are displayed on an additional OLED displays located between the instrument panel and the door. There are even three type of views to chose from: highway driving, turning, and parking. Though the amount of drag reduced was not specified, the mall cameras does reduce the vehicle’s overall width by 15 centimetres and MotorTrend claims the final drag coefficient of the E-Tron is 0.28.

Every little change counts when Audi is trying to meet its target range of 248.5 miles for the E-Tron. To further improve airflow, the automaker has included a controllable cool-air inlet, adaptive air suspension and side air inlets into electric vehicle’s design.

 

[DRCayenne]

Hi,


I presume that this system also acts as a blind spot monitor?


Cheers

 

[ATron]

Interesting idea, though not something I would go for simply because of how costly it would be to replace one if another car ever side swipes me and takes it out. Pretty common depending on where you live and that's one more electronic part that could malfunction.