It turns out, though, that the car buying public doesn’t care that much at all if what lives beneath, say, their Audi is similar to what lives beneath their Skoda. I’ve heard people say “it’s basically a Volkswagen underneath” about a Skoda to convince themselves they’ve got a well-engineered budget car.
But I don’t think I’ve heard someone say the same about their Porsche Cayenne. They seem contented that Porsche has done extra work somewhere and that it was worth paying for.
And since it turns out that few people seem to care either way, in my experience car makers today seem less guarded about talking platforms and architectures than they used to be.
That has made it much easier to talk to designers and engineers about their cars. It has helped them to explain new models and helped us understand them. It has also (and it’s possible that they like this less) made it easier to quiz them about upcoming variants, particularly when it comes to sporty versions.
If we know a particular engine fits or can make a certain amount of power, or if we know a platform has been made to accommodate four-wheel drive, then surely, engineer, you could, you know, make a GTI/R/RS/etc, couldn’t you? Do tell us more.
Sometimes that has prompted a clear answer: “Sorry, mate, that platform can’t be four-wheel drive, and it would be too expensive to engineer it differently for just a few sporty cars, so there will be no really fast variant of that car.”In the case of EVs, things aren’t quite so straightforward.
Four-wheel-drive EVs need only a motor at the back, not a driveshaft from the front. But if the rear suspension, a subframe or the body isn’t designed to accommodate one, it’s still an expensive re-engineering job.
Or rather it was. It turns out that this particular platform limitation might no longer apply. It’s suggested that the upcoming Volkswagen ID 2 R will have not only a powerful front motor but also a motor inside each rear wheel.
No room for a motor and a differential under the boot floor? No problem: in the hub it can go. I hadn’t thought about that before, but I think it basically means almost any platform could end up hosting any drive configuration that a manufacturer chooses.