I just had an update from a Continental engineer. Continental is a very large automotive supplier, which among many, many other things, makes autonomous driving hardware and software, camera systems, and lane-change warning systems. They have a representative on the ISO 16505 technical committee and the ECE R46 commission, two of the bodies that set rules for mirrors and camera systems. Their report is that mirrorless cars will be explicitly permitted from the third quarter of 2016 in the EU, and in Japan in 2016. They expect the same from the US around 2020, which means they either know more about the workings of DOT than anyone else I've encountered, or that this is just a WAG. I continue to believe that the US DOT regulations (when they come) will override state laws on mirrors.
The reason this is interesting is that side-view mirrors account for roughly 3 to 6 percent of overall aerodynamic drag -- definitely low-hanging fruit. On a MS90, this might mean 7 up to maybe 12 miles of greater highway range with no other change. Tesla filed a petition with the DOT three years ago or so to allow sideview mirrors to be replaced by cameras.
The reason this is interesting is that side-view mirrors account for roughly 3 to 6 percent of overall aerodynamic drag -- definitely low-hanging fruit. On a MS90, this might mean 7 up to maybe 12 miles of greater highway range with no other change. Tesla filed a petition with the DOT three years ago or so to allow sideview mirrors to be replaced by cameras.