CarBuzz has discovered a new patent that BMW has filed with the World Intellectual Property Office, detailing a design for a differential that future electric vehicles may use.
EVs with one motor on each wheel of an axle are able to apply torque vectoring already, but when using two motors on a single axle, this type of performance impacts overall range.
To improve efficiency, BMW proposes using sliding sleeves, magnetic couplings, or claw couplings to join and unjoin these motors as needed.
This EV-specific differential would work best on an AWD car that powers both axles, or possibly a front-wheel-drive-biased AWD vehicle, which could then act like a RWD at times.
Since only one motor will be used at a time in many situations, this means less drain on the battery. So, while performance is enhanced, so too is maximum driving range.