Advice I had in the past was to have snow chains for both axles on an AWD car. However I have ordered a VW ID.4 GTX and I am wondering whether I need snow chains on both axles for EVs where there are motors on each axles. Anybody know the answer?

Yes. If your front wheels slip and your back don’t then it’ll divert power to the rear wheels and you’ll no longer have a 4WD car.

you need to check the manual for your vehicle is the short answer. THe owners manual for the VW ID.4 GTX says

Snow chains may be fitted only to the rear wheels. They may be fitted only to the following tyre and wheel combinations:

Get the manual here for the full details, took me 2 minutes to fnd it on google
https://www.vwidtalk.com/threads/id4-other-features.514/page-2#post-5438

this does suggest theuy expect you to have proper 3PMSF tyres or snowsocks for the front

Surely if you live somewhere sufficiently extreme to warrant snow chains on a regular basis, then decent winter tyres should be the first port of call?  Assuming you’ve not done that already…

I rented an awd CRV in france, it had snow boots on the front only. Was amazing in all conditions.

I rented am awd CRV in france, it had snow boots on the front only. Was amazing in all conditions.

I am astonished that this was allowed-the insurance implications for the hire company are mind boggling. I would think that this would not happen in the UK.
On a personal level, I would refuse to drive the car and demand an alternative

Yes. If your front wheels slip and your back don’t then it’ll divert power to the rear wheels and you’ll no longer have a 4WD car.

I’m not sure that’s strictly true, The car has one motor per axle, so can assign a max of 50% (assuming they’re equal) power to each end. if one end starts slipping, it may or may not cut power to that end, but unless it cuts power to 0% you still have a 4wd car. Either way, its as effective as a diff lock for anything other than full bore launches.

That said, I’d still fit them to both ends, or the handling will be extremely wayward

I am astonished that this was allowed-the insurance implications for the hire company are mind boggling. I would think that this would not happen in the UK.

I asked why not all four, they said it should be front only. Ice, deep snow, slush, hard packed snow, it was amazing, we towed a snowed in little Audi out of an icy car park with it.

That said, I’d still fit them to both ends, or the handling will be extremely wayward

as above, the manual says rear only. If you fit them to all 4 then (assuming they fit) you may well invalidate your insurance. As has been suggested, if you need snowchains regularly, then you should start with proper winter tyres (3 peaks mountain and snowflake) at which point the steering should be handled by the winter tyres. If it’s deep enough to need snowchains at both ends then personally I’d be staying home.

But hey, you may be an experienced winter driver, so you do you

Some cars don’t have the body / wheel clearance for chains on steering lock or as the suspension compresses.

For that reason, follow nbt’s advice and follow manufacturer advice.

Winter tyres not necessarily essential, it might be he just lives on a short hill that doesn’t get gritted, like me. Chains would be useful for me without winter tyres.

If you fit them to all 4 then (assuming they fit) you may well invalidate your insurance.

unless your insurance document has terms around fitting snow chains (hint, it doesnt), it would not be invalid.

Agreed with the above comment that chains probably don’t fit the front physically. Maybe socks on all 4? having more grip on the rear of the car than hte front is a lot less dangerous than the other way around, but I’d still be wary of driving something that may be able to accelerate much better than it can stop

unless your insurance document has terms around fitting snow chains (hint, it doesnt), it would not be invalid.

I was thinking more of the insurance saying “you fitted something the manual explicitly says not to”

I’ve never found chains to be anything other than a pita! Winters are a far better option and are useful in all kinds of conditions other than snow. If it is really so bad that you can’t get anywhere without chains I’d prob just stay at home for the day (never had it happen yet). Of course recognise that it depends where you live.

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This wouldn’t happen in the UK principally as almost nowhere in the UK requires chains, or boots.

Chains on summer tyres doesn’t sound a great combination to me…. tricky chap johnny corner….

Thanks so far. I am in Austria so legally have to change to full winters for the winter. Car will come with 19 inch winters and 20 inch summers. There are a few places I have to use snow chains by law.

The manual linked is for the standard ID.4 not the GTX, so the advice there is not valid. I will get hold of the dealer and see if they have a manual for their test vehicles. I have no issue shelling out for 2 sets of chains but when I used to fit them to my Panda 4×4 it was a hassle doing all 4 in bad weather.

Edit: I have found from a US site that the ID.4 AWD manual also has rear only mentioned. And max size of 19 inch tyres for clearance.