theboom

All the electric car concepts I see are electric motors mounted directly to the wheels or axles and the power doesn't go through the a traditional transmission or differential. Because of this there must be very complicated computer programming on the torque vectoring that is even more complicated on awd vehicles. Due to this will you still be able to upgrade a car with aftermarket parts? I don't think someone will be able to just buy a new program much less do it themselves when they add more powerful motors. Speaking of adding more powerful motors, can you do that? I don't know a whole lot about electric motors but is the power directly related to the size? If so the space provided by the original manufacture is more than likely going to be just enough for the stock motor.

Or do I have this all wrong? Will you be able to upgrade the power and manage the torque vectoring?

B Stead

The batteries of an electric vehicle are heavy and so the best electric vehicle is one with a carbon fiber tub to reduce weight.

The BMW i3 has a carbon fiber tub and the BMW i8 hybrid has a carbon fiber tub. The Tesla Roadster had a Lotus chassis of aluminum extrusions and then a fiberglass (SMC) bodywork.

The new fuel-cell electric vehicles don't have as much weight problem as battery-powered electric vehicles.

Here's a photo of an electric motor on the axle:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_i3...rive_unit2.JPG
.

Bucknut2006

Just like other electronic devices, there will be people upgrading them over time. Plus things like suspension and brakes are not going away. It has also taken many years for electric cars to account for 100k+ sales or about 1% of total car sales in the US.