How good is a four-wheel drive electric car in poor winter conditions?
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BMW iX 50
Both the iX and i4 use the same type of control for their xDrive system, which is a good example of how well four-wheel drive can work with electric motors.
Four-wheel drive is far more advanced than on internal combustion engines, since the engines also regenerate. In the case of BMW, both engines regenerate in order to provide as much power as possible back, when the conditions are right for it.
The steering unit constantly checks the car’s grip, accelerator pedal position, steering angle, g-forces and body movements to determine how much power is sent to which wheels.
In some cases, the car can be rear-wheel drive, front-wheel drive or everything in between, 100 times a second. The wheel drive together with the ESP system also helps you through the turns by pulling on the rear outer wheels and in some cases braking the inner front wheels.
BMW i4
What happens: We choose the kindest program, Comfort. It actually starts spinning on the right front wheel first, and the test shows how important it is not to let go of the wheels. Then it is driven under these conditions.
We get stuck, short and sweet. The European winter tires with a width of 255 mm have shown good properties during the entire winter test, both during ice rink driving, snow-covered roads, ice, column and bare asphalt, but during commissioning on steep slopes, they must give up. It all ended with the car having to be towed up.
Mercedes EQB
What’s happening: Mercedes’ Geländewagen very light »has no terrain program, although the look may be gossiping about it. We choose Comfort driving program. The hill start assistant keeps the car still until we gently accelerate. Nokian Hakkapeliitta in 235 / 30R19 grips well, and it rolls up calmly – as if nothing had happened.
In normal cases, the car is understeered (loses grip in front first and thus slips out with the front) but can be playful if you select the Sports program and turn off ESP. Then the forces behind are always available.
Kia EV6
You get it with both two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive. The four-wheel drive produces 74 kW / 255 Nm on the front wheels and 165/350 on the rear wheels. Kia has several driving programs.
In “Eco-mode” it is mostly rear-wheel drive to save power, while in Sport it in principle gives 50/50 on the axles, but at full power the distribution is 70 percent behind. But the independent motors switch on and off at lightning speed depending on several parameters.
What’s up? Hill start assistance makes getting started easy. With careful pedal guidance, the effect is built on both axles and we get up playfully easily.
Nio ES8
Nio also has the strongest engine at the rear. 240 kW / 326 hp and 420 Nm. The front wheels have 160 kW / 218 hp and 305 Nm to route with.
In any case, the ES8 feels good up to the grip and does not go into wheel spin. The second heaviest car in the test manages a hill start in an exemplary manner. The car is on the widest winter tires in the test, Hakkapeliitta R3 SUV 265 / 45R21.
Skoda Enyaq
The Skoda Enyaq iV80x has a number of driving programs that control the engine, four-wheel drive, dampers, brakes and a number of other things that are not important for maneuverability. You can choose between Eco, Comfort, Sport, Individual and Traction in this case.
What happens: We experience that the anti-spin system is nowhere near as good as the others. It gives too much power and the rear wheels dig down. Does not get a soft start. We still manage to force the steep hill by swinging to get up.
