SUPPLEMENTAL AERODYNAMIC HEAT EXCHANGER FOR A VEHICLE

An electric vehicle having a heat exchanger formed in an aerodynamic airfoil shape comprising one or more body panels disposed along an outer surface of the vehicle having one or more fluidic chambers or micro-channels. The heat exchanger is adapted to provide effective and highly efficient heat transfer, and also to provide substantially reduced or negligible contribution to the aerodynamic drag. The heat exchanger includes a supplemental heat exchange system wherein at least a portion of the heat exchange capacity is provided by an inner heat exchange surface of the heat exchanger exposed to an interstitial space within the vehicle. Airflow is forced, via a fan for example, from an aerodynamically-efficient inlet, over the inner heat exchange surface, and exhausted through an aerodynamically-efficient outlet, thereby providing a supplemental heat exchange system including substantially reduced or negligible contribution to the aerodynamic drag.