Development of a High Performance Electric Vehicle with Four-Independent-Wheel Drives

A new concept electric vehicle (EV) with four-in-wheel motor is developed to make EVs spread widely. Each motor is mounted inside a wheel and can be controlled individually. The batteries and electrical components are placed in the hollow space of frame structure under the seats. Such a compact configuration permits packaging flexibility by eliminating the central drive motor and driveline components, including the transmission, the mechanical differential, the universal joints and the drive shaft. Apart from many mechanical advantages of such a structure, high performances of chassis control systems such as traction control, electronic differential control, direct yaw moment control and regenerative braking control systems are employed due to the rapid response and precise torque control of the motor. Simulation is conducted in ADVISOR and Matlab/Simulink environment. The results indicate that the performances of the four-in-wheel motor drive EV are significantly improved owning to the application of the innovative structure and advanced control systems.