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So, I daydream quite a bit about owning a Tesla Roadster, then it hit me. What happens when it's icy and I need to go get groceries? Well, in my Lotus Elise, I could easily just pop the thing in second gear, maybe even third, and feather the clutch. To the same effect on an automatic, I could put my '97 automatic Saturn in 2 (if I wanted to drive a poor-person car). Unfortunately I don't know if my Tesla would understand that this is one of the few times in life where I don't need MAXIMUM POWER. I can see myself fishtailing it right into the ditch pretty easily.

That scenario set up, how do Electric cars deal with icy conditions? Their ridiculous low end torque sounds like they'd be a bad fit anywhere outside of say California and Florida.

Edit: To Clarify, this question is not about something the car does automatically, but the driver intentionally chooses to do, Ex: Explicitly putting a manual in 2nd or 3rd, or putting an automatic in 2.

Sidney
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1 Answers1

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The anti-lock system already monitors the individual speed of all wheels and reduces braking power of individual wheels when it detects it locking.

From there, it is just a small step to the traction control systems, which applies the brake to individual wheels when they start to slip. In addition, motor power can be reduced.

The Tesla has this system, too, and I found this youtube video showing Model S on snow/ice. (The show starts at 1:30)

sweber
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