BMW Says This EV Makes 13,269 LB-FT of Torque. Here's Why That's Misleading
If you followed along with the news about the BMW Vision Driving Experience vehicle (a.k.a. the VDX) that came out last week, you may have noticed an unusual claim: that this electric car makes 13,269 pound-feet of torque. To which anyone's initial reaction should probably be, wait — is that a typo?
No, it's not. BMW writes it out in clear English in its press release for the vehicle: 'The Vision Vehicle develops 13,269 lb-ft of torque.' With that kind of power, it must be the quickest vehicle to ever grace a road, right? Well, it is quick — but that silly-high number is more a deception than a legitimate indicator for performance.
BMW doesn't spell it out, and wouldn't confirm it either way when queried, but this 13,269 pound-feet of torque is referring to wheel torque, not motor torque. The latter is the number we're all accustomed to seeing when manufacturers provide specs for vehicles. It's a disappointing omission, considering the quad-motor EV concept is undoubtedly packing a ridiculously-high amount of motor torque that shouldn't require this sort of confusing claim.
If this wheel torque conundrum sounds familiar, that's because this isn't the first time an OEM has pulled this stunt. GM revealed the GMC Hummer EV to great fanfare years ago with a stunning claim of 11,500 pound-feet of torque. In reality, the tri-motor Hummer EV Pickup makes 1200 pound-feet of motor torque. GM chose to instead report the obscure and relatively useless wheel torque spec initially, and there's no denying it made for dramatic headlines. Tesla did the same with its non-existent Roadster, which required similar explaining to dissuade the spread of misinformation.
As a reminder, wheel torque is traditional motor torque, multiplied by the effect of any gear ratio that changes that output on its way to the wheels. Jason Fenske from Engineering Explained has a great video that explains the situation from years ago when the Tesla Roadster was revealed.
Road & Track asked Fenske for his thoughts as OEMs continue to peddle this semi-meaningless spec. 'Car companies love to wow enthusiasts with big numbers, and this is often done with misleading marketing, such as providing wheel torque numbers to MAKE NUMBER BIG,' Fenske said. 'I feel the simplest way to combat this is to provide an equally factual, but equally misleading counterclaim. For example, the Ford Bronco, with a small 2.3-liter four-cylinder, is capable of producing over 29,000 lb-ft of torque at the wheels — more than double the BMW!"
The question remains then, how much motor torque does the VDX actually make? Unfortunately, BMW didn't release any information that would help determine the final drive reduction ratio is for its electric motors, but somewhere in the 7:1 to 10:1 range is typical for EVs. If it were 10:1 all around, that would put motor torque at 1369 pound-feet. That number is still wildly impressive, and even if it's a somewhat lower in reality, nobody would be disappointed in BMW for it. Let's just hope BMW's choice to report electric motor performance like this for its concept isn't an indicator of what it plans to do for production vehicles to come.
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