Drivetrain pros/cons and future trends?
Discussion
The compactness and controllability of electric motors has led to a greater diversity of drivetrain layouts; ordinary family hatches come with front, rear and twin-motor 4wd propulsion, while three and four motor drivetrains are on sale, enabling tricks like torque vectoring and the videogenic 'tank turn'.
My e-C4 is FWD, and to be honest it does suffer a little from torque steer and traction control intervention. I'm always tempted to use the immediate torque, and then the front tyres often can't quite handle it.
Compared to FF ICE cars, an EV has closer to 50/50 weight balance as the battery is under the passenger compartment, so has less weight over the driven front wheels and worse natural traction (although the more neutral balance should benefit pure lateral behaviour).
Given the sophistication of modern stability control and the controllability of electric motors, and a 50/50 weight balance, I can't really see any benefits to front-drive over rear. Most FWD EVs seem to be shared platforms with ICE models, apart from perhaps the Zoe.
I had a day in a Taycan 4S, whose combination of perfect traction, perfect precision, immense acceleration and strong and easily measured out braking made it an absolute point-blank overtaking weapon, creating passing spots on the shortest straight.
However most reviews suggest that for EVs that come in both RWD and 4WD versions, the 2WD version is preferable - good enough traction, less over the top performance, and some potential adjustability.
In principle, a four motor layout seems ideal, as you can then do whatever you want with the drive in software, so total flexibility - and the potential to use torque vectoring to overcome the larger moment of inertia of battery EVs.
So I guess two questions, what experiences do people have of different layouts, and any predictions for whether EVs will end up standardising on one or two layouts in future?
My e-C4 is FWD, and to be honest it does suffer a little from torque steer and traction control intervention. I'm always tempted to use the immediate torque, and then the front tyres often can't quite handle it.
Compared to FF ICE cars, an EV has closer to 50/50 weight balance as the battery is under the passenger compartment, so has less weight over the driven front wheels and worse natural traction (although the more neutral balance should benefit pure lateral behaviour).
Given the sophistication of modern stability control and the controllability of electric motors, and a 50/50 weight balance, I can't really see any benefits to front-drive over rear. Most FWD EVs seem to be shared platforms with ICE models, apart from perhaps the Zoe.
I had a day in a Taycan 4S, whose combination of perfect traction, perfect precision, immense acceleration and strong and easily measured out braking made it an absolute point-blank overtaking weapon, creating passing spots on the shortest straight.
However most reviews suggest that for EVs that come in both RWD and 4WD versions, the 2WD version is preferable - good enough traction, less over the top performance, and some potential adjustability.
In principle, a four motor layout seems ideal, as you can then do whatever you want with the drive in software, so total flexibility - and the potential to use torque vectoring to overcome the larger moment of inertia of battery EVs.
So I guess two questions, what experiences do people have of different layouts, and any predictions for whether EVs will end up standardising on one or two layouts in future?
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