THE BMW i3s is to feature a new traction control system that is 50 times faster than currently features on the brand’s vehicles.
Following its debut on the BMW i3s, the traction control system will be rolled out across all BMW and MINI models – both electric and with combustion engines.
The BMW i3 sets standards worldwide for driving pleasure in a purely electrically-driven vehicle with the traction control response giving far greater driving stability in adverse road conditions and during brake energy recuperation.
BMW says the innovative traction control system has been adapted specifically to the instantaneous power deliver of the BMW eDrive system and provides improved traction and driving stability in adverse weather and road conditions when pulling away, in active Brake Energy Regeneration phases and when accelerating out of tight corners.
At the heart of this innovation is the control system’s 50-times-faster routine, made possible because the control process is now calculated directly in the powertrain instead of in a remote unit – like conventional driving stability systems – which require long signal paths.
Peter Langen, head of chassis development at BMW, said:
“With their high levels of torque and instantaneous responses to every movement of the accelerator, electric motors already make significantly higher demands on driving stability systems than conventional power units.
“That’s why the BMW engineers developed a new type of system geared squarely to the demands of electric mobility.”
However, the shorter control cycles of the new traction control system will not be reserved for purely electrically driven cars; indeed, this innovative traction control system also optimises traction, driving stability and driving dynamics in vehicles with combustion engines.
So following its introduction on the BMW i3s, the system will be fitted progressively in BMW and MINI models with front-, rear- and all-wheel drive to deliver noticeably greater assurance and driving pleasure when road conditions make pulling away difficult.
