Especially new electric cars often come with aerodynamic wheels that look like a turbine with twisted blades. What is the point of this? I mean, e.g. in cycling they use just a simple disc wheel when aerodynamic efficiency matters during individual time trial. Why is this "turbine" better than a disc? Or is it?
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Theoretically, the blades can act as a fan drawing air sideways. This cross flow can help cool the brakes and other techno-gubbins tucked inside there, at the expense of a small increase in aerodynamic drag. Whether they achieve this on any particular design varies from a closely-guarded secret to anybody's guess. But it looks cool (or do I mean hot?), which in many cases is its primary design purpose.
answered Sep 6, 2020 at 19:16