The present work intends to compare the dynamic performance of in-wheel and on-board motor battery electric vehicle (BEV) powertrain architectures by means of a novel full-vehicle numerical approach, which overcomes the electrical and mechanical deficits widely present in the current literature. Namely, neglecting of the interaction between mechanical and electrical phenomena and its impact on the steady-state and transient vehicle dynamic performance. A co-simulation approach is employed: whereas the mechanical systems and their interactions are simulated with Adams Car, the electrical phenomena are carried out by MATLAB/Simulink.