Sorry if this is a stupid question. EVs use single speed transmission because the AC motor has instant torque. But they still use a transmission, the motor turns gears that turn the wheels. My question is, why not just directly spin the wheels with the motor?
In: Engineering
That’s a possibility, but there is some math to wheel speeds during a turn that could become bothersome.
In a right hand turn, for example. The passenger side drive tire is rotating slower than the driver’s side drive tire by necessity. This is usually handled by the rear differential. On a direct drive EV you’d have to have a way of controlling the speed of each motor as a function of the vehicles steering mechanism.
I’m no expert, but it seems to me that as an engineer, you’d be safer and more efficient if you used systems that already exist when designing a commercial vehicle.
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