Engineers - Possible that Side-Steps Improve Aero/Range?

[VAF84]

I was hanging out on the Silverado EV thread, and ran into an unexpected comment. Apparently the Silverado EV's sidesteps also help improve aero by separating the turbulent bottom air from the sides. Does anyone know if this thought process would have been applied to the sidesteps on the Ford Lightning?

I always assumed that retractable steps would be superior for range and aero; now that has been called into question.

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[SmoothJ]

Anything is possible... especially with this elephant going down the highway. However it will be very hard to figure out unless you have a full model with a wind tunnel, or software to to do educated guesses based on a CG model. Sure we can scan our truck with Li DAR, but who has the software?

 

[Zprime29]

I would hazard an uneducated guess that the gains from aero on fixed vs folding steps is in all likely hood a negligible loss, as in it's a wash. One gain just replaces the other.

 

[Henry Ford]

It's plausible but ICE steps look the same as ours and models without steps have the same EPA range rating. That suggests little to no efficiency effect.

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