Many of us hate the idea of messing with the car's aerodynamics by attaching a front license plate, but many states demands it.
Wouldn't it be nice, if Tesla saw a way to make the nose cone with an integrated window behind which we would install the license plates?
http://www.alphaproductions.us/Files/misc/NoseConeWindow.jpg
That way the front surface would remain continuous and the air stream uninterrupted. It could be done so the plate is mounted from below, or the whole transparent part could be a snap-in pane which clicks in after the plates have been attached.
It wouldn't do much for European plates, which are shaped differently, but as far as I know most US plates are about the same size. Or there could be a European and an American nose cone.
My observation here in the Bay Area is almost all Porsche and perhaps a quarter of BMW don't hang front plate. Cops usually don't pay too much attention to them even though they are very keen on expired tags.
CA law forbids installation of license plates behind a window or plastic or anything, really. When you see a car in CA with plastic covers on their plates, they're technically out of compliance.
@craigi
+1 Makes it hard for the speed and red light cameras
I like it though, nice idea / design...
Same goes for Europe, illegal to have anything in front of the plate. You'll be stopped at once and ticketed if a cop sees it.
Citroen SM has a window for the license plate. Still legal to drive in Europe, maybe because it's a classic.
Couldn't you still build a nose cone that had a recessed area for the plate instead of the current bolt-on version, that would be much better.
I see an aftermarket opportunity here. I would love to combine this with some kind of metal or painted version as I like the look of the nose cone, just not that it's made of plastic.
How about a nose cone that doubles as a rear projection screen? That way, you could project the license image onto it, and change that image as necessary (e.g., for bank robberies).
Great idea!!! Here in Australia, most people have a license plate frame supplied by the dealer (with the dealership name etc.) and which usually have a plastic cover. So, there should be no impediment to this idea. In fact, i proposed this a year or more ago on the forum. The simplest and best licence plate holder - mould a recess in the nose cone and have a plastic snap on cover maintaining the shape. Should be totally legal here. Also, A recess that accommodates the largest size plate with a number of holes pre moulded in (to suit the requirements of all markets served) hidden by any size plate, means that one size would indeed fit all, both in Australia and in Europe and also the USA. The front plate in New South Wales state (can't speak for the other states) is smaller than the rear, which is about the size of a standard USA plate.
Make a hot press mold, and make your own depression for the plate?
Still butt ugly….I’ll take my chances without the front plate!
There actually is a type of airfoil that would enable one to get almost the same benefit of a nosecone by simply putting an aeroboost(TM) frame around it with the right shape.
AeroVironment (inventor of the EV1, predecessor to the Tesla) developed the aeroboost in the early '70's as an attempt to reduce the aero drag in trucks. It was also used in a few experimental aircraft.
There is a picture of one in figure 14 on page 19 at:
http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/6209980/6209980.pdf
A drawing with some explanation is in figure 4 of:
http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA...
I suspect, however, that we Tesla owners wouldn't like it around our front license plates much better than truckers did since, IMHO, it doesn't look very nice even though it is quite efficient from an aerodynamic perspective.
If a lot of Tesla owners express interest here, I could probably get one of the designers of this shape to design an appropriate license plate frame with the correct shape for a license plate. After all, the particular aerodynamicist I'd ask is a Model S owner and former Roadster owner.
I mentioned in another string that a MS owning friend has experimented by driving his Tesla on his daily round trip commute. On alternate days he installs and removes his front plate. He is a very heavy foot driver and I bleive 80-85 are normal for him. He claims that installing the front plate costs him 5% to 7% range. Tesla owners need to get letters of complaint off to their DOT. Tesla needs to run their own test and if true---make their own noise.
Next up: aerodynamic plate enclosures!
Has anyone tried a different method of attaching the front plate lower? I hate to drill bolt holes in the nose. It's illegal in BC, Canada, to drive without a front plate unfortunately.
Is their any law against curving the plate? A Tesla aerodynamic license plate holder could be a first and allow the air to flow properly.
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