I've been driving our RWD Model 3 and Stealth M3P AWD for 4 years now in all kinds of inclement weather, often hard enough (or in slippery enough conditions) to break traction were it not for electronic traction aids, under both acceleration and combinations of accelerations, cornering, braking. I can tell you on no uncertain terms, any difference in safety between AWD and RWD is miniscule to non-existent and has more to do with whatever tires we have on there at the moment and what air pressure they are at.
Any small safety advantage AWD may have had over 2WD has been almost entirely eliminated by Tesla's excellent electronic traction aids. The fact that the AWD can climb steep, icy hills that the RWD has no chance of making it up (all else being equal) actually makes the RWD the safer car by encouraging the use of proper winter tires and discouraging travel on icy roads that steep. The one minor safety advantage that is real is a small but real advantage in accelerating hard into fast traffic when traction limited, an occurrence primarily limited to freezing conditions or special situations like a cold, wet road contaminated with oil or antifreeze.
I'm pretty sure Tesla is not fooled by the mistaken notion that AWD is sooo much safer. I think you will find accident statistics will not bear that out either. Remember, not everything we have heard repeated 1000 times is actually true. I put this in the same category as "Consumers won't buy electric cars because they are too limiting."
This tells me Tesla's strong focus on AWD is almost entirely due to the fact that they have been production constrained for years now (AWD has higher margins) and a potential minor contributing factor being the fact that the AWD needs less maintenance, because the RWD requires regular tire rotations while the AWD does not. My best guess is that as Tesla's production continues to increase to the point they are no longer production constrained, not only will prices come down quite dramatically, but we will see a stronger mix of 2WD versions. The AWD Model 3's primary advantage over the RWD model is more even tire wear. The performance differences are inconsequential as the LR RWD Model 3 is faster than all big-engined muscle cars from the tire screeching 1960's.
In 2017 many people speculated that the AWD Model 3 would be the more efficient model due to it's ability to regen brake on all four wheels but that has not proven to be valid in practice, neither does this contribute to safety as the disc brakes can be blended with regen as necessary. The RWD model costs less, is lighter, goes farther on a charge in all traffic conditions and has a slightly nimbler steering feel. Given all this, I'm pretty sure there is an important role for 2WD Teslas to play in the transition to EV's.
That said, you can pry my P3D from my cold, dead hands!
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