About Twin motor 4WDlock

[Harald]

Hi Admins,
(Hi Anko, etc...)

Looking on the trailer video with the boat and a lot of other videos on the web:
I think there is quite some confusion as some are manipulative and show theoretical "non-performance" while some others show how it works.
It therefore would make sense for me to post a guideline with "Dos & Don'ts" on prominent (fixed) place in the top lines of the forum.

For diagonal load situations where one pair of wheels has no good contact to the ground:
Let the wheels spin for at least a few seconds. The car will (should?) automatically start to brake the spinning wheel after a while.
Maybe this is depending on the selected mode?

For (towing) situations where full torque is needed:
The driving battery can provide a limited current (approx. 200 Ampere) which is just half the current needed for getting full torque from both motors.
Such low speed max. load situation therefore needs the ICE to be active and provide the other half of the needed electric current.
The ICE needs to have a runtime of 60-90 seconds before providing serious load to the generator (except full kickdown).

Etc...

There will be more topics for such "Dos & Don'ts" than the ones mentioned above?
The "Tips & Tricks" thread might collect such knowledge but important driving topics might better get an extra place?

Best regards, Harald

PS:
My considerations are still of theoretical nature collected from different sources in the web. Still waiting 2-3 weeks until I can pick up my own PHEV.

 

[Hypermiler]

Re boat video and me climbing a much steeper, longer, icy hill with a heavier load. - I did not engage the 4wd lock as the manual said it may limit hill climbing ability while towing. Perhaps the boat guy should have tried without it. Just saying.

 

[Harald]

Starting a new question, but I think it fits best in this thread:

Are there any arguments not to use 4WDlock when driving on normal roads?

At higher speeds, it's obvious that the rear axle motor can only work in EV mode or in serial hybrid mode.
It therefore makes no sense at driving speed higher than 65 km/h as it would urge the car to maintain partially serial hybrid mode when parallel mode would be possible which has a better fuel efficiency.

But when driving in EV mode or slower than 65 km/h, I do not see why 4WDlock shouldn't be used.
It would reduce wear on the whole front powertrain including tires, motor, etc...
Might be that the powertrain of the rear axle is designed for less operating hours than the front, but I guess most drivers will hardly use it at all.

Any comments?

Harald

 

[anko]

But when driving in EV mode or slower than 65 km/h, I do not see why 4WDlock shouldn't be used.
It would reduce wear on the whole front powertrain including tires, motor, etc...
Might be that the powertrain of the rear axle is designed for less operating hours than the front, but I guess most drivers will hardly use it at all.

The rear motor participates fully in pure EV mode and in serial hybrid mode. Only in parallel mode, the rear motor plays a lesser role.

 

[Harald]

The rear motor participates fully in pure EV mode and in serial hybrid mode. Only in parallel mode, the rear motor plays a lesser role.

Thanks,
Harald