the long way downunder
Well-Known Member
Right. Rivian could have a mode where, as the driver applies more steering angle, the drive at each wheel assists the sharpness of the turn. Below say 30 mph, as the steering input reaches say the last half turn of the steering wheel, the vehicle could increase the reverse drive on the inside wheels till, as the steering reaches full "lock" the vehicle would be in a zero radius turn and be effectively rotating on the spot.
Using vehicle accelerometers to compensate for changes in traction to keep the body centered around its axis of rotation, the driver could go "beyond" full lock to make the vehicle go backwards (giving the driver control to "dig" or back-and-fill) through a very tight turn or repositioning a tire sideways to clear an obstacle.
Tank turns also create the potential for the vehicle to extricate itself from some situations (e.g. uphill in snow or mud) where driving all four wheels forward or backward just buries the tires into the soft terrain, but a tank turn would act like steering left and right to maneuver sideways or pivoting to a new line out of trouble.
Of course ideally Rivian would implement four wheel steering as well. Hopefully that's in a "version 1.5" of the R1.
Once enthusiast off-roaders get their R1's, we're going to see some seemingly magic off-road driving.
Clarke's Third Law: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
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