this post was submitted on 02 Dec 2023
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I noticed they conveniently didn't talk a lot about steering..
The claim of "one wheel drive" I think is meant to highlight what happens if traction is lost. It sounds like something I have heard on 4wd off-road forums. I agree the phrase "one wheel drive" is perhaps not a great way to explain the disadvantages of differentials vs limited slip differentials vs locking differentials vs individually driven wheels.
The idea of "one wheel drive" as I have seen it used, is that in a vehicle with one powered axle assembly (what we normally call 2wd-- either front or rear wheel drive) is that if you lose traction with either drive wheel, the vehicle no longer moves because all power is diverted to the slipping wheel.
If you have a limited slip differential, there is a limit to how much power is diverted to the slipping wheel. With a locking differential, you only stop moving if you lose traction to both drive wheels.
Anyway...
The design is really interesting.
You also bring up a good point about how camber changes with suspension position. Also the effective track width changes, such as with my 4Runner which has upper and lower control arms, a Double wishbone suspension. If the motor remains in a fixed position, the wheel will move onboard and outboard relative to the motor depending on suspension location.
I don't quite get how these two effects are addressed with this new design. Or are the suggesting a different suspension technology that they didn't discuss?
As for steering, I wonder if the design rotates the motor along with the wheel. In that case no CV is needed but I would guess there are some downsides to such a design.
I agree the video seems kind of... premature. The mechanism is cool but I don't get the sense that its applications haven't exactly been nailed down yet.
Individual motors on each wheel will still slip, just with half the power. So sure, it's an improvement by an unrelated mechanism, but not having the wheels connected with a limited slip means it'll still need a traction control system. And even still, the "half" power is a relative term because every car has a different output. That goes for not connecting left to right as much as it goes for front to back. So, not different than a traditional open diff or 2wd. There have been advances in brake-based traction control so they don't just cut power and apply single brakes like the 00s, they can properly modulate pressure to get equal propulsion.
That's a good point you've mentioned as well - the wheel will change distance to the motor as it goes through it's motions. The only way to avoid that is to place the motor at the effective pivot point of the suspension which is, in a properly design suspension, inside the other wheel to mimic the level dynamics of a solid axle. That of course defeats the short halfshaft design direction. So something has to allow variation in distance. In the non-steer wheels, maybe this could be as simple as a telescoping spline drive. However, the video shows a small black joint at the same time stamps above on the rear and still has those normal-looking cv boots on the fronts.
Or maybe they're ditching good handling and going with perfectly vertical suspension travel. Give it hard eco tires and it'll slide before the suspension shows it's flaws.