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Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) intends to sell electric cars for less than 20,000 euros ($22,836) and protect German jobs by converting three factories to make Tesla (TSLA.O) rivals, a source familiar with the plans said.
VW and other carmakers are struggling to adapt quickly enough to stringent rules introduced after the carmaker was found to have cheated diesel emissions tests, with its chief executive Herbert Diess warning last month that Germany's auto industry faces extinction.
Plans for VW's electric car, known as "MEB entry" and with a production volume of 200,000 vehicles, are due to be discussed at a supervisory board meeting on Nov. 16, the source said.
Fallout from cheating on diesel emissions tests continues. If German automakers, of which VW is the largest, switch to electric vehicles (EVs), will other car companies have to follow suit?
(Score: 2) by Knowledge Troll on Saturday November 10 2018, @05:14PM (1 child)
I'm quite curious about this. I'm an avid off-roader myself and I don't readily see too many advantages for electric propulsion over ICE.
In 4 low I already have way more torque than is even mechanically safe. In 4 low engine braking performance can only be described as "extreme." I can shift from 2 wheel to 4 hi while moving and out again but not into 4 low.
Traction control is available for 4wd and control of torque output to each wheel can be achieved too with sophisticated systems that can actively control the brakes at each wheel independently. Crawl control and descent control has been around for a while now on ICE.
Watch this ICE Toyota very carefully auto-dig itself out after the driver buried the front and rear tires in sand up to the axles [youtube.com]. That is some extremely precision and fine detailed control being demonstrated on that ICE.
The benefit seems to be in something like tons of torque or speed with out having to stop (shift from 4hi to 4low) but not in any kind of vehicle feature.
So I'm curious where does electric propulsion start offering things that we can't do now? What am I not seeing here?
(Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Sunday November 11 2018, @08:01PM
My Chevy 3/4 ton is the same; 4W high can be entered and left under power and rolling, but 4W low requires neutral to shift in and out of. I've never tried it rolling, don't think I will. :)
So, more about 4WD comparisons: The torque curve of an IC engine can be fairly described as a curve. The torque curve of EV motors is better described as a cliff. You get (very) large torque without having to have high RPM and gearing. No clutches are involved. Each wheel can be controlled completely independently of one another, so traction control is more easily achieved. No shifting is required, you always have the power and torque you need, presuming you have enough at all.
Also, I've not personally seen this done yet, probably because it compromises the low center of gravity advantage, but the possibility of a high-clearance design with much less stuff hanging off the chassis exists. The motor pods / chassis mounts and support structures are really all that's needed under there. No transaxle(s), no drive shaft(s), no low-hanging headers, etc. Motors can be integrated right into the wheels, which would also help with clearance issues. Imagine the wheel mounts being a thick vertical plate of steel with the wiring and brake support apparatus run safe inside it, and nothing else hanging down there at all. That'd handle deepish snow and other high-clearance challenges really well.
WRT to your observation about mechanically safe application of power: since there can be no gears, etc., the motors can be designed to apply power and get away with it right up to the point that the tires would rip off their mounts, assuming only that the motor pods / chassis mounts and motor bearings are designed to take it.