A Kind of Thought-The-Ground Hybrid Four-Wheel Drive System

For eliminating the defects of existing hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) powertrains when applied to four-wheel drive vehicles, a novel electro-mechanical driving axle combined through-the-ground hybrid four-wheel drive system is propounded. Through an integrated control strategy between electro-mechanical driving axles, the two axles can drive the vehicle respectively. The functions of differential drive and regeneration are fulfilled by an anti-direction bi-rotor motor (ADBRM) mounted into the electric driving axle. According to the operating principle of the new system, a Matlab/Simulink based simulation platform for the four-mass model and the ADBRM has been constructed. Finally, the simulation results demonstrate some transient output characteristics of the ADBRM in both curve following and slip cases. This output characteristics is much like that of a differential gear, therefore, the feasibility of a differential gearless powertrain is proved by the application of an ADBRM.