Improved energy efficiency and vehicle dynamics for battery electric vehicles through torque vectoring control

Abstract

We propose a novel torque vectoring concept for battery electric vehicles propelled by wheel-individual electric machines. Besides vehicle dynamic aspects, mainly addressed in other works, we especially focus on energy efficiency improvements. Our approach is based on a comprehensive four-wheel model taking the tires' nonlinear characteristics into account. A yaw torque optimized for vehicle dynamics and energy efficiency is calculated by a controller and allocated to the wheel hubs by a torque distribution block considering the efficiency characteristics of the electric machines. The resulting torque vectoring control system leads to an energy consumption reduction of around 10% for many driving situations, containing both high and low lateral acceleration scenarios.