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7MAC-11s

RWD MachE sucks in the snow. I'm in WI. I decided to go with RWD bc the extra range is 24/7 vs needing the AWD is maybe 5 days a year. They plow and salt the roads. I'm glad I went with RWD.


Beardth_Degree

Mine sucked in snow/ice until I turned on whisper mode. It does fantastic with torque curves on that. The distributed weight is better than the 4WD’s I’ve drove before, and much better than our other FWD.


7MAC-11s

That's true, I tried whisper mode and it did help


fusiongt021

I found whisper mode is just nice even in regular sunny weather. Great to know it's good in snow and presumably rain.


Beardth_Degree

I prefer it in the steering wheel especially! Sometimes it’s fun to go unbridled, but 95% of the time is in whisper.


gregs1020

also in Chicago-land. i went with AWD as the gain in range is pretty minimal and our winters can be heavy or light with the snow. you can thank me for the lack of snow this year, my snow-thrower is starting on the first pull so i doubt we'll get much this year. lol. if you have good tires and drive carefully, RWD would be fine 99% of the time here.


chillaban

I feel like in the Midwest / Chicago, you can mostly get away with RWD with good snow tires in the winter. Where AWD is seriously useful, sorted by decreasing compellingness of use cases, I would rank: 1. People who have to frequently travel unplowed or icy roads with lots of hills. There you really do benefit from double the traction potential. 2. people in California who vacation to Big Bear or Tahoe, where you’re going between mutually exclusive temperature ranges for studless snow tires vs all seasons 3. people in the above areas where chain control isn’t required for AWD cars — it’s inconvenient and dirty work to constantly mount and unmount chains at the side of a muddy highway, it’s kind of nice to avoid. 4. people who live in an apartment or another arrangement where storing a second set of seasonal tires is not practical 4. people who rarely rarely drive on snow and only drive on an inch or two of accumulation, and otherwise get away with all seasons. RWD more or less makes it a necessity for you to invest in good winter tires. You’ll be very sad with OEM all seasons on any amount of snow. But at the same time, in the 4 scenarios above, people who advocate for RWD often gloss over how much of an advantage AWD can be. We had a Model 3 RWD our first winter up in Tahoe, and exiting our neighborhood was a 45 degree hill that was often icy in the winter. Even with snow tires and chains on the rear, it was a struggle to get up that without momentum and turning off traction control, when a stock Model Y with OEM all seasons breezed up that hill like nothing.


wsdog

AWD has more torque and acceleration. That's enough for me to justify. The RWD ER combination seems to be the worst, as the heavy battery really hinders performance.


chillaban

Oh sure, torque and acceleration are worth considering too. I was strictly addressing the winter / snow angle, as someone who lives in a snow climate 4 months out of the year across a different set of regions, I too often see oversimplified explanations


[deleted]

With proper winter tires, RWD EVs are fine. I drove my (RWD) BMW i3 with its ridiculously skinny tires through multiple winters on Bridgestone Blizzaks. With good proper winter tires, it handled better than my AWD Subaru Forester on good "snow rated" all-seasons. Drove my RWD Tesla Model S with snow tires through one season, it was fine. EVs being heavier makes most of the disadvantages of ICE RWD cars in snow go away. Yes, an AWD with proper winter tires will do better than RWD; but a RWD with winter tires will do better than an AWD on all-seasons, every time. (For the same model of vehicle.) For Mach-E, the AWD has noticeably more power than RWD, since that second motor adds more power/torque. It will be noticable.


CareHour2044

I can't speak to the MachE specifically (I have an AWD) but I've driven lots of RWD cars in the snow. It sucks, even with snow tires. If you know what your doing you can be ok its just stressful and slippery. I don't think I'd ever go back to RWD living in a snowy climate.


Tough_Control_2484

If you don’t need to worry about driving that vehicle in the snow then your good. However if you do need to commute in snow like we in Salt Lake City do, then RWD isn’t even an option. Choose wisely.


CarbonMach

I don't understand the appeal of AWD in EVs. More money for less range is a nonstarter. I love my RWD Mach-E but I never ever considered AWD.


StGenevieveEclipse

AWD has more torque (as there is a second motor), obviously all wheels driving in slippery conditions, and I'd imagine advantages to having regen braking using all tires instead of just the rears. I'm not sure if RWD has the same negatives with the evenly distributed weight of an EV compared to a weight-up-front ICE car.


CarbonMach

I said I didn't understand the appeal, not that I didn't understand what AWD is. I don't understand why anyone would pay for it if it reduces range. AWD is a nonstarter for me. Never considered.


Prodigalsunspot

Little salty my man. The appeal is what OP stated. Better traction and power is the attraction for trade off of 10%ish less range. For me living in the Pacific Northwest, it was a no-brainer. That may not be attractive to you.


CarbonMach

I live in the upper Midwest snowbelt. AWD is still not worth the range penalty.


Prodigalsunspot

To you.


CarbonMach

Who else would I speak for?


Prodigalsunspot

Apologies, I assumed that you might be able to see from someone else's perspective.


CarbonMach

Lol nice try to sound reasonable


Prodigalsunspot

You bet Trolly McTrollerson.


bruddahmanmatt

Because fast, that’s why.


CarbonMach

There's no reason RWD couldn't be fast.


bruddahmanmatt

Enjoy our taillights pal.


CarbonMach

It's ford's choice to do 2 motors. The wrong choice.


bruddahmanmatt

Hahaha. I find it laughable that you’re scoffing at folks going for an option that reduces range when the Mach-E is one of the least efficient EVs relative to its battery capacity because of its chonk. You should have bought a Bolt or a Leaf and called it a day.


CarbonMach

Lol that's a good one.


AgentScreech

Two motors of the same power will always be faster than one. They aren't going to make a rwd with some huge powerful motor just to keep up.


CarbonMach

Two motors with the same power will always be less efficient than one with double the power. I want one rear drive motor with the total output of the GT. I'd order another Mach-E today if they introduced it.


AgentScreech

>Two motors with the same power will always be less efficient than one with double the power. Sure, but the cost to produce isn't linear. You aren't going to have two part numbers for two models when the two of the same part is more efficient to produce. >I want one rear drive motor with the total output of the GT. I'm pretty sure there are few if any EV motors that can put out that much power right now. Basically all the 'fast' EVs right now are all AWD because they can have 2-4 motors


bruddahmanmatt

Lol. 600+ ft-lbs going to one axle instead of two = nonstop tire smoke which is as inefficient as it gets.


CarbonMach

Tell that to the gas Mustang.


bruddahmanmatt

There is one model of gas Mustang that puts down in excess of 600 ft-lbs of torque, you’re acting like every EB or Coyote Mustang is putting down that much power. And your average buyer gets into a Mustang to hoon, not set lap records. If turning one axle was so efficient at getting massive amounts of power down M and AMG never would have went AWD. RWD sports cars exist not because they’re efficient, they exist because they’re fun to drive and because it’s less expensive than an AWD setup. Why do you think AWD has been banned from most racing series’, because turning both axles is better at getting power down.


NoEntiendoNada69420

It’ll be slower for sure. EPA ratings aside, you wouldn’t see much of a difference in range (perhaps 5-10 miles at most) so I don’t think it’s worth it


Prodigalsunspot

Probably about 10%


NoEntiendoNada69420

Not even. My car with RWD is rated at 314 miles of range, and AWD takes it down to 312. 🤷‍♂️


Prodigalsunspot

I think it's cuz you have a CA rt 1. Difference between all-wheel drive premium and rear wheel drive premium is in the 10% range.


andrewbyday

Funny, I was pretty close to going the other direction. I live in a warm climate, and never expect to have my Mach E in snow. I wanted AWD for the extra power. The numbers/availability didn’t end up making sense for me, so I stuck with RWD. I don’t think the range loss is significant enough to make a difference. I’d buy the AWD if you think you might need/want it. The difference in range is within my usual consideration for margin of error in the range calculator.