I'm kind of surprised we haven't seen more of these motor per wheel (even if limited to a single axle) things in EVs previously. I'm sure 2 smaller motors are more expensive than 1 big one and a differential, but seems like you could do quite a lot with per-wheel torque control. A lot of the "software defined vehicle" stuff feels a bit overhyped. Ultimately a car is still a bunch of physical parts even if there are a lot of computers inside, but with this kind of drivetrain you can define a bunch of fancy differential behaviors or advanced traction control in software. Cool to see BMW adopting this tech.
