All-wheel-drive electric vehicle with on-board motors: Experimental validation of the motion control systems

This paper discusses the vehicle dynamics control system of an all-wheel-drive electric vehicle with four on-board motors. Each driveline is characterized by complex torsional dynamics caused by the gearbox and the half-shaft located between the electric motor and the wheel. Such a drivetrain configuration can benefit from a specific controller, i.e., the active vibration controller (AVC), which increases the damping ratio of the actuation system. The AVC enhances the effectiveness of the other vehicle dynamics controllers such as the direct yaw moment controller (DYC) and the wheel slip controllers (WSCs). This study introduces examples of AVC, DYC and WSC implementations, and their experimental validation on the electric vehicle demonstrator of the European Union FP7 E-VECTOORC project. The experimental results confirm that the powertrain architecture with individually controlled on-board motors significantly improves the traction, braking and cornering capabilities of the electric vehicle, while increasing comfort and active safety.