LeftieBiker wrote:How old are you, vitaminj? I grew up with RWD, especially Volvos, and while I liked driving them they weren't great in snow without good snow tires. Weight in the trunk also helped, which I understand a BEV might not need. It isn't a myth though that, for the same set if tires and roads, most FWD cars will handle better in winter conditions than most RWD cars. Tesla, for example, offers several RWD models, and they don't do especially well in snow -just adequately.
I am old enough to have owned 10 cars in my life. RWD, FWD, and AWD with turbo, V8, and slow engines. I used to daily drive a Miata year-round in Colorado and even took it snowboarding a few times. I never got stuck when driving my Miata. FWD is "safer" for new drivers and inexperienced drivers because it will understeer instead of oversteer, and the natural reaction when sliding is to panic and take your foot off the gas. In FWD you take the foot off the gas, front end settles down, weight transfers forward and you can steer again. RWD when you take the foot off the gas, weight comes forward, rear end gets loose, and that scares inexperienced drivers.
The fact of the matter is, when you point the nose uphill your weight shifts to the rear tires. My Miata will climb hills my Honda never could, same weight, same tires. RWD also usually means 50/50 weight distribution which means better traction when turning and when going downhill you have better rear wheel braking so you're not counting on only 2 tires like a nose-heavy FWD.