Chery claims its latest concept is the world’s most aerodynamic car.
According to the carmaker, the Aero achieves a drag coefficient of 0.168 – but based on that figure, it isn’t quite worthy of that title.
Volkswagen managed to beat Chery’s claim with its ARVW concept in 1980, which achieved a drag coefficient of 0.15.
Fiat, Ford, and General Motors have also released concepts which achieve a drag coefficient of 0.14, 0.17, and 0.16 respectively.
The Aero concept was developed using AI simulations, and Chery says its bionic design was inspired by tuna.
It features “four sets of active aero devices”, one of which is located on the rear bumper.
The car features futuristic digital logos throughout the vehicle, including on the wheels. It otherwise has a smooth liftback design in keeping with history’s long list of aero-focused concepts.
It’s unclear if this concept will go into production, and details of what’s going on under the skin are vague.
Electric cars rely on an aerodynamic design to increase their range. If a vehicle has a poor aerodynamic design it’s harder for it to overcome drag, which increases battery consumption.
Chery currently sells the Omoda 5 locally in Australia. It will soon be joined by the larger Tiggo Pro 7 SUV later in 2023 and the Tiggo Pro 8 confirmed for 2024.
Chery has a wide range of sedans and SUVs under the Arrizo, Tiggo and Omoda lines.
It’s setting up factories in Argentina, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand to build combustion-powered, hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs), and already builds cars in Brazil and Egypt.
Founded in 1997, Chery boasts it was the first Chinese automaker to export complete vehicles overseas, and now sells vehicles in more than 80 countries.
Chery also exports vehicles under the Jetour and Exeed brands.
It has typically been China’s largest vehicle exporter, though last year SAIC Motor – parent of brands like MG and LDV – overtook it in export volume.
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