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Electric drives still have enormous potential when it comes to safety and climbing talent. This is shown by new developments from the supplier Magna. The first cars with electricity superpowers are already in sight.
From a band rolls in Mercedes, from the other one BMW. In the next hall takes a Jaguar Forms on - and around the corner the workers make one Toyota. There is no such thing in the highly competitive world of car brands? Yes in Graz.
All-wheel drive professionals
In the local production of the contract manufacturer Magna, the competitors have been peacefully sharing space for a long time in order to bring models such as the Five, GT-Supra or E-Pace to the customers in sufficient numbers. After all, the gray eminence of the industry has 120 years of experience in building complete vehicles. And the Austrians hold a key position, especially when it comes to all-wheel drive vehicles. After all, Magna manufactures around 60 percent of all four-wheel drives that roll over hill and dale globally under the manufacturer's flowery, changing names.
"We are currently experiencing a turning point," says Walter Sackl. And that is very much related to the electrification of the powertrain, according to the head of global product management at Magna Powertrain. Under power, the climbing maxes have to master completely new challenges - but they also have new opportunities. "The focus is on the software," says Sackl. At the annual Innovation Congress, the Graz-based company presented this digital dimension to a few hundred experts from industry - and demonstrated it in practice on the Formula 1 race track in nearby Spielberg.
Fast through the wet curve
Appropriate for the location, things are pretty brisk. At the wheel of a converted Jaguar i-pace, for example, you can see how the new technology pushes the limits of what is technically possible once again. The scenario is well known to many drivers: A corner is approached much too quickly on a slippery road. The vehicle pushes outwards, heavy work for the ESP is announced. But if a sudden evasive maneuver is necessary and the driver pulls on the steering wheel, even the best control unit of the braking system is overwhelmed - and the exit quickly ends in a ditch.
With the Evoque upgraded to the "Etelligent Reach" concept vehicle, even inexperienced drivers stay confidently on track during the same ride. And that even with significantly less cranking and corrective interventions at the wheel - exactly the actions that overwhelm most drivers in such cases. This is made possible by an optimized all-wheel drive, more powerful electric motors and a new computer architecture.
Engines and brakes as one system
The Graz-based company has integrated the brake control unit, which previously worked individually, into a central brain. This reacts much faster and more sensitively to dangerous situations and also has more reaction options. In contrast to conventional four-wheel drive vehicles, electric motors and wheel brake interventions work as one system in the test vehicle.
The same applies to the third functional component in the system network: torque vectoring on the rear axle with its two clutches that can variably distribute torque to the individual rear wheels. The effect: The rear wheel on the inside of the curve can be braked at the same time and in a perfectly coordinated manner, while the other wheel can be supplied with more torque - and all of this from the power of two electric motors, each with an output of 160 kW/218 hp.
Less steering, more safety
The person at the wheel commands an overall system with the steering wheel, brakes and gas pedal. According to Magna, the safety reserves should be around 15 percent higher than in vehicles without brake integration, and the possible cornering speeds increase by three to four percent. The most important effect: the steering angle required is reduced by half, which noticeably increases comfort and safety reserves. And recuperation via both axles is even more battery-friendly.
Sackl also assumes that there will be “good demand” for the new electric all-wheel drive vehicles. Some of the technology will already be installed in the newcomer Fisker Ocean from autumn of this year. Incidentally, the electric SUV is also manufactured in Graz.
The possibility of flange-mounting two powerful electric motors on both axles will soon also lead to a turning point in an even harsher environment: fox and rabbit can wish each other far more undisturbed good night when the all-electric drive can whisper its way through the most impassable terrain. This can already be tried out in the rocky mountain forest of Styria. It goes through mud holes or over steep scree climbs almost as effortlessly as in a powerful combustion engine à la Land Rover Defender or G-Class (by the way, Magna likes to translate it as "Graz-Class"). Just without the drive noise.
Power pack
A 160 kW motor (218 hp) on the rear axle and a 120 kW colleague (163 hp) at the front ensure power transmission in the test vehicle. Depending on the battery, longer tours through the undergrowth would not be a problem. And thanks to power distribution with more than 1.000 possible Newton meters per wheel, the vehicle can handle the toughest tasks off any road from a standing start. A crawler gear for electric start-up already improves traction in the test vehicle when driving slowly off-road. But a real two-speed gearbox would also be conceivable, with a classic off-road reduction helping to overcome the nastiest obstacles. And software can even be used to virtually imitate a cardan shaft. All necessary locks included.
Equipped in this way - and with the appropriate structural freedom - the Mercedes icon G-Class will probably become the first all-electric off-road king from the year after next. Made in Graz, of course.
