1 Motor RWD CT: Stability Issues?

[Stratosurfer]

I have found over the years after owning many pickups in over 40 years... I’m wondering why CT 1 motor is RWD, as I have found FWD to be superior in most every way possible to RWD. I suppose it is for the 7,500 lb towing capacity, yet when your not towing, an empty RWD only 1/2 r 3/4 ton pickup is not so stable driving in rain for instance. The new stabilization system certainly do help, but an unloaded RWD pickup, IMHO, is the most unstable vehicles sold today when driving in rain and snow.
I suppose I will have to order the 2 motor AWD which I hope for extended range pulls power away from the rears when not towing and/or the bed is not loaded and runs on the front axle. For maintenance simplicity I would rather have the single motor CT, but only if it were FWD.
Thoughts?

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[azjohn]

I have found over the years after owning many pickups in over 40 years... I’m wondering why CT 1 motor is RWD, as I have found FWD to be superior in most every way possible to RWD. I suppose it is for the 7,500 lb towing capacity, yet when your not towing, an empty RWD only 1/2 r 3/4 ton pickup is not so stable driving in rain for instance. The new stabilization system certainly do help, but an unloaded RWD pickup, IMHO, is the most unstable vehicles sold today when driving in rain and snow.
I suppose I will have to order the 2 motor AWD which I hope for extended range pulls power away from the rears when not towing and/or the bed is not loaded and runs on the front axle. For maintenance simplicity I would rather have the single motor CT, but only if it were FWD.
Thoughts?

I wouldn't be concerned about maintenance with a 2nd motor, this isn't an ICE rig. Only real maintenance is tires

 

[Saskateam]

Agreed. FWD is better because the weight is there. With the CT you have a 50-50 split with more total weight that ICE vehicles. I am not sure how the weight change will affect the steering in icy wet conditions however straight line traction will be good from a RWD CT.

 

[Stratosurfer]

I wouldn't be concerned about maintenance with a 2nd motor, this isn't an ICE rig. Only real maintenance is tires

I‘m not concerned about the second motor, I’m more concerned about the AWD. Which is not 4wd. 4WD trucks/suvs are fairly low maintenance, the more I read about these advanced AWD systems, they start costing bucks between 100k and 130K miles. It depends on how Tesla does it. The newest Ford AWD system puts 100% power to the fronts with the rears locked out when not needed, hopefully that’s the system Musk/Team choose. I will be running mostly unloaded and would rather have the fronts 100% pulling in this condition. If we all plan on keeping these CT’s ‘forever’... then this I believe will be an area (AWD) that will be maintenance heavy over the life of the CT. Again, it matters the method of AWD Tesla chooses as there are many different methods used now: torque vectoring, complete rear lockout, clutches on each axle for positive traction and braking to stop spinning, Ect. The braking to stop spinning is probably the least maintenance intensive as it will wear brake pads and rotors out only.

 

[azjohn]

I‘m not concerned about the second motor, I’m more concerned about the AWD. Which is not 4wd. 4WD trucks/suvs are fairly low maintenance, the more I read about these advanced AWD systems, they start costing bucks between 100k and 130K miles. It depends on how Tesla does it. The newest Ford AWD system puts 100% power to the fronts with the rears locked out when not needed, hopefully that’s the system Musk/Team choose. I will be running mostly unloaded and would rather have the fronts 100% pulling in this condition. If we all plan on keeping these CT’s ‘forever’... then this I believe will be an area (AWD) that will be maintenance heavy over the life of the CT. Again, it matters the method of AWD Tesla chooses as there are many different methods used now: torque vectoring, complete rear lockout, clutches on each axle for positive traction and braking to stop spinning, Ect. The braking to stop spinning is probably the least maintenance intensive as it will wear brake pads and rotors out only.

Tesla's are a completely different mind set as ICE vehicles. If Tesla is consistent with their other AWD setups it will be the opposite of what you posted, with the rear wheels getting most if not all the power and the front will get power when needed. With an ICE all of the weight is upfront so FWD is the better option. There was a BEV car that the company set it up with FWD and the traction wasn't good ( I think it might have been a Chevy Bolt/Volt)

 

[John K]

Tracking is terrible with the Volt and stock tires. Tires with more grip improved the performance drastically at the expense of a few reduced miles.

 

[Stratosurfer]

I suppose where I’m confused, this being a pickup and designed to payload over 3K lbs in the bed, how can the CT Single Motor RWD possibly be balanced loaded AND unloaded. This is a weight and balance problem of being loaded and unloaded on the bed, with or without towing. I can understand a Tesla car that is RWD that -always- has a large balance of the weight on the rears, but with a loadable and unloadable pickup this goes back to my first post and owning pickups for 40 years. Unloaded they can be a handful in rain, particularly at highway/hydroplaning speeds. I suppose if the weight is balanced 50/50 unloaded and 30/70 when loaded it will track ok and rain and not hydroplane the front tires?
At the end of the day, stability aside, they will need to bring a much better range for the 1 or 2 motor or I’ll be forced into the 2 or 3 motor. The single motor with 500 mile range would be my selection if offered.

 

[Saskateam]

The air suspension will help with the balance as well. A regular RWD when loaded actually take weight off of you front tries reducing the steering tires traction. FWD is best for unloaded vehicle because the weight of the engine. This is quickly countered as you add load on the back. I had a 1988 Chev stepside that was so light in the back end it handled badly on anything but dry pavement. As a teen driving it that was great. Easy to do donuts and fun. In the winter I loaded it with granite pieces to improve traction, however learning how much weight to use took some time. Sure I stopped better with more weight but I could not turn as well because the weight transferred off the front so much. With air suspension the height will be level, putting the weight distribution closer to equal on all 4 tires. It does not effect the transfer of the centre of mass as much as letting the vehicle suspension squat one way or the other.

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