Interesting article on Carpoint that I thought would be of interest to readers here. Make of it what you will:
Carpoint story
Four-wheel drive technology development has all-but reached its furthest point, according to engineer for Land Rover, Roger Crathorne.
However, the auto industry could benefit from following the path of heavy machinery manufacturers, capitalising on hybrid development and eventually, motor-in-wheel applications that would do away with traction aids.
Crathorne told the Carsales Network that while 4WD vehicle makers had likely reached the end of the development and integration of driving aids like
hill descent control, one or two other opportunities for further enhancement existed for manufacturers.
"We will see hybrid technology come into play," says Crathorne. "The world and our customers are going to force us to do something different than what we're doing at the moment.
"I can actually see us doing what they do for the enormous quarry trucks, which have a small motor -- either hydraulic or electric -- in the wheels."
The trucks Crathorne's referring to use a powerful diesel-electric powertrains, much like a train, to power in-wheel motors.
Implemented on a much smaller scale for the passenger car market, the benefits of this include specific-to-wheel control, meaning offroad driver aids like ascent and descent control would be made redundant.
"This would give us an amazing amount of flexibility," he said. But the challenge remains offering the feature at a "realistic price".
Land Rover does not have any plans to develop the technology, he was quick to add. The idea is just one of Crathorne's visions for the future of 4WD development; especially as it would capitalise on the influx of hybrid technology.
Using an electric motor avails massive torque and, to reduce the power the vehicle needs, as
well as emissions, Crathorne says the energy can be transferred to the wheels electrically or hydraulically.
Both systems are extremely expensive but Crathorne is "sure" the technology will one day make it to 4WD passenger cars.
Traction aids like anti-lock braking sensors "do a hell of a big job" in four-wheel drive cars like Land Rovers. ABS not only determines whether the vehicle is braking correctly but also monitors differential and wheel speed, which allows the opportunity to selectively hold or brake a spinning wheel and drive one with traction. This control can be actuated forward or backwards in a car, and even diagonally when required.
Crathorne suggests that with electric or hydraulic motors, an experienced offroad driver would be able to almost turn the vehicle using the fiddle brakes (torque vectoring) function built in to stability systems.
The industry veteran has not drawn design sketches and is "not sure if anyone else has". But "there's a lot of potential there," he said.
"We can't take much further what we've already got now," he explained.
Crathorne says the ultimate next step would be for a system to automatically determine what kind of surface it is on. "That would be very clever if anyone can manage it."
The idea has been talked about for many years, he said, and not just by Land Rover but other offroad vehicle makers.
According to Crathorne, when LR first developed its Terrain Response system, engineers came to speak to him, requesting a function that would effectively "place an instructor like me in the passenger seat" and that instructor would dial-in whatever surface the vehicle was traversing.
One day, Crathorne says, driver aids like LR's Terrain Response won't need the information dialled in, because systems will be clever enough to determine surfaces via elements such as temperature for snow.
"I don't know how we'll pull that off, but it's an interesting thought," he said.