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Is AWD Full Time or Part Time?
- Thread starter DanDi58
- Start date
Do you have a source? From Bjorn's video here, it shows that the rear motor is used to drive, and the front motor only engages when the car is in need of traction or extra power based on internal CAN data. The front is rarely if ever used.
MatildaModelY
Active Member
Sadly is a part time system. I ran the scan my tesla tool and confirmed the front is only engaged when needed. hard acceleration (in my observation over 50% throttle) or loss of traction. it is insanely quick to engage so most users wont even notice. traction control is really good in this thing. while cruising and light load only the rear motor is engaged. Maybe to improve efficiency.
I am sad tesla does not do torque vectoring in curves like Audi does on their ultra quattro that technically is also a partial system. In audi version, is the forward axle the one powered all the time, it only engage the rear on traction loss or curves to use torque vectoring. there is always hope they can implemented since it have all the hw needed.
I believe one can force it to be on all the time with off-road assist option but i havent test it.
I am sad tesla does not do torque vectoring in curves like Audi does on their ultra quattro that technically is also a partial system. In audi version, is the forward axle the one powered all the time, it only engage the rear on traction loss or curves to use torque vectoring. there is always hope they can implemented since it have all the hw needed.
I believe one can force it to be on all the time with off-road assist option but i havent test it.
One other item of potential interest, the front motors are probably providing the majority of the regen. While not directly related to AWD and extra umph the front motor provides for acceleration, they would provide a lot more braking and regen than if just a RWD only car. And when it comes to tire wear, I guess it would depend on how hard you accelerated from a standstill and how hard you hit the regen for stops. If neither was hard, then I'd expect the rear tires to wear out faster than the fronts, which is one reason you need to rotate your tires if possible (not a staggered setup). However if hard acceleration/regen, tire wear could different?
iamnid
Active Member
Hmmm... Why would they do that? You get something like 65-70 percent of your stopping power from the front brakes, so why throw all that away and increase wear and tear on the rear tires? I do not have the OBDII connection and software to check the front motor info, just seems odd to throw away all that free energy if not using front motors for regen. I guess I will have to do some regen runs and see how it feels. If the car nose dives under regen then I assume that is coming from the front motors. I do not recall right now since I have been in Prius mode for so long trying to get FSD beta access and you get knocked if regen is too hard, but I've had enough of that style of driving...
jpy1980
Member
Good info on the AWD system from one of my fav YouTubers!
I've owned both the SR model y (RWD) and the dual motor versions. The regen is for sure a lot stronger in the dual motor version, so i'm guessing a majority of the regen does come from the front motor in the dual motor model. I'd also agree that for the dual motor, the rear motor does most of the propulsion during normal driving. I honestly cant tell the difference under normal driving conditions between the SR and the dual motor versions, besides the increased regen under braking. only under hard acceleration do i really feel the difference.
thesmokingman
Active Member
Electric AWD is AWD Cheat Mode basically. ICE cars with their systems need lots of slip before they can actuate and there's a big delay so there's no comparison with ICE.
Null860
Member
Front motor is only powered when either power requirements dictate or for traction control purposes.
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