Does the MME have full time or part time AWD?
Exactly this. 5" is not very much clearance. These are not SUV's. They're essentially fancy station wagons, of which I'm excited to be purchasing.
AWD on EVs is completely different than AWD on a ICE. An ICE has a single engine and a transfer case that connects both front and rear differentials. An EV like the mach e essential has two independent drive systems one in the front and one in the back. The traction control controls the AWD and can react much faster than a transfer case allows. Simply put it works real good.
This gets repeated a lot, but I don't think there's any truth to it. I'm happy to be corrected, though. As far as I know, EV traction control relies on the same individual wheel braking + open differential effect as ICE vehicles. Sure, there's instant torque, but traction control is more about slowing down wheels with no traction. If you have motors at each wheel like a Rivian or Hummer EV, things are potentially very different and you could reap the benefits of electrification for better traction.
Even the Mach E has a motor at the front and a motor in the back. This is potentially better than one motor and a transfer case
The important part of traction control isn't slowing down, its getting moving from a stop (at least if you don't want to get stuck). In that case grabbing a brake to get the other wheel spinning does help a lot.
Part of it is the relatively narrow tires and the weight. I find it’s not too hard to break the Mach-E into a slide on turns when the road is wet. On the other hand, I think the weight and relatively narrow tires decrease the risk of hydroplaning, all that weight concentrated in a relatively small area, makes it harder for the vehicle to lift up over water.
That's more about the tires, put one of many all-weather or winter tires on and you will be.
I guess I'm just not convinced that it's significantly more effective. I've had ICE cars that primarily did traction control by cutting throttle. Obviously that alone is not very effective, especially if you're stuck. Maybe it can keep you from spinning out. Then the brake-based traction control systems seemed to become the norm, which seem to be helpful in more situations.
Simple answer, most of the cars that do better have limited slip differtials. To the best of my knowledge the mach e and Tesla's don't
Among current Subarus, Only WRX STIs have LSDs. In Audis, it's mostly S-series. So there's no inherent mechanical advantage among many cars that seem to test better.
Especially important for a new car that has driving dynamics you aren't familiar with. I don't do this every year but I do try to do it a couple times every time I get a new car.
I wish more people would do this. It was raining in SoCal over the last few days, and you get broadly two types of bad drivers. One, those who will continue to drive 50mph in a 30mph zone, aggressively tailgate, totally oblivious to the degraded road conditions. Two, those who will drive like rain = ice on the roads, and will crawl along at 15mph in a 25mph zone.
First, RWD EVs have FAR better traction than typical ICE RWD vehicles, in part because the weight is usually 50% over the driven wheels, and in part because traction control is hundreds of times more precise since direct motor can help control things way faster/better than the typical ICE RWD where long drivetrain takes eons to react (even in manual tranny) though brakes are about as quick.
