In the traditional fuel vehicle market, most of the products are built in the previous wheel drive mode, and the models that use rear-wheel drive, one is due to its special positioning, such as the main sports control positioning, followed by the relatively high price, the engine layout is changed from horizontal to vertical, and the transmission form is also changed to rear drive. Therefore, if a fuel vehicle uses the form of rear-wheel drive, it will definitely become a publicity focus of manufacturers, after all, in the minds of consumers at that time, the rear drive represented high-end.
However, in the era of new energy, this law does not seem to work on electric vehicles, because there are more and more models using rear-wheel drive on the market. For example, the hottest Tesla Model 3/Y on the market now provides a rear-drive layout, and the high-performance version adds a group of motors to the front axle to form a four-wheel drive. If only the new forces adopt this approach, it is not entirely correct, after all, the Volkswagen ID series is a rear-drive driving method, and even the Hongguang MINI EV, which starts at only 29,800 yuan, is also a rear-drive layout.
So why are most car companies now willing to use the rear-drive layout on electric vehicles? We said at the beginning that the fuel car does not use the rear drive mainly because of the cost, after all, a drive shaft is added, and even the entire powertrain layout needs to be replaced, which is equivalent to increasing the cost of car manufacturing, which naturally does not conform to the concept of car companies pursuing extreme profits. Secondly, the horizontal front-drive platform also has advantages for space, if an A-class car uses a longitudinal rear-drive platform, then the space left for the crew compartment can be imagined, most consumer cars are based on space as the first element, if even the most basic requirements can not be done, then naturally there is no need to choose you.
However, on electric vehicles, all these problems no longer exist, due to the lack of engines and gearboxes, the space is no longer so "inchy", and the motor is placed in the front axle and the rear axle without much cost difference, anyway, it is driven by electricity, and there is no difference between the front and the back. The driving premium and handling experience of rear-wheel drive is far superior to that of front-wheel drive.
Secondly, electric vehicles are generally more torque due to their fast response speed, and if they use front-wheel drive, they are prone to torque steering or slippage, and this problem can be solved by placing them on the rear drive.
The last point is the shift of center of gravity when accelerating, you may wish to recall that when we watch some videos of zero acceleration, the test car will not have a larger front lift in the starting stage, and then the suspension will be compressed, which is because the center of gravity of the vehicle is shifted to the rear wheel. However, for models under 300 horses, if the front wheel width is sufficient, it can also prevent slippage, and the front cabin has the engine downforce weight, which can also increase the friction coefficient of the front wheels.
But the electric car is another way of saying, because there is no engine, the front axle load is much lower, and the contact area between the tire and the ground when accelerating is also lower, and there will naturally be slippage.
Therefore, since there are so many back-drive advantages and the cost is no different, there is no reason to choose front-drive.
Of course, there are still some electric vehicles on the market that use front-wheel drive, but this is more the result of the transformation of the fuel vehicle platform, after all, the front cabin is empty, just enough to plug the motor into it. Of course, I am very much not recommended to buy these "oil to electricity" models, even if it is a rear drive is also a choice to refuse, first of all, the platform at the beginning of the design of the engine and the space occupied by the gearbox, which can not be changed, compared to the original did not take the engine gearbox into account the scope of pure electric platform, the same length of the case, based on the pure electric platform model can have a longer wheelbase. In addition, in terms of electrification equipment, the pure electric platform has richer functions and more gameplay.
summary
As the rear drive is gradually recognized by the market, there will be more and more car companies in the future to lay the tone of the rear drive in the early stage of design, and there will be fewer and fewer electric vehicles using the front drive.