Retractable wheel covers

A wheel cover apparatus for a vehicle having at least one wheel mounted for rotation about an axle comprising:

• a wheel cover;
• a mounting structure configured to movably attach the wheel cover to a portion of the vehicle adjacent the wheel and positioned outboard of an outer face of the wheel in a cross-vehicle direction while permitting movement of the wheel cover along a vertical plane between an extended position in which the wheel cover overlays at least a first portion of an outer face of the wheel and a retracted position in which the wheel cover does not overlay the first portion of the wheel, wherein the wheel cover is configured to successively overlay greater portions of the outer face of the wheel as the wheel cover moves from the retracted position to the extended position;
• and
• an actuator coupled to at least one of the mounting structure and the wheel cover configured to move the wheel cover between the extended position and the retracted position.

A method of selectively covering at least a portion of a vehicle wheel with a wheel cover, wherein the wheel cover is movably mounted adjacent the wheel, the wheel having a treaded surface and an outboard face, the method comprising:

• generating a signal from a condition sensor;
• providing the signal to a controller programmed with a predetermined threshold value;
• and
• instructing an actuator with the controller to move the wheel cover along a vertical plane to a retracted position in which the wheel cover does not overlay the outboard face of the vehicle wheel in a cross-vehicle direction if the signal goes below a threshold value and along the vertical plane to an extended position in which the wheel cover overlays the outboard face of the vehicle wheel in the cross-vehicle direction if the signal becomes equal to or above the threshold value.