One of the many benefits of pure-electric power is that it enables very precise control of all-wheel systems – great for everything from SUVs to performance cars. With full drive-by-wire and high-voltage control systems, front and rear axle motors can be controlled with incredible precision – and co-ordinated perfectly.
That’s brilliant, although demonstrating it might be a bit boring. Unless you make a tiny AWD-BEV to deliver ramen around a restauarant. Now we’re cooking… so to speak.
Nissan’s Ramen Counter Project unites a motorized server tray with its e-Force AWD technology. According to the company, the e-Force tray “swiftly delivers ramen and maintains the integrity of noodle presentation by suppressing sloshing and movement, from chef to patron”.
The server tray employs dual electric motors with independent control, tuned by Nissan engineers to get food from A-to-B as quickly as possible without disturbing the dish.
The e-Force system is available in an actual car: the Ariya BEV. Nissan claims one of its key benefits is that it helps trace the intended line over changing surfaces and conditions, without the need for too much adjustment in driver input. In other words, it works out where you want to go and helps you get there.
It’s also supposed to help ride comfort, by reducing pitch and dive with careful control of the regenerative braking front and rear.
The e–Force system owes its origins to the GT-R’s Attesa E-TS torque split AWD and elements of the Patrol’s intelligent 4WD technology.
