Torque Vectoring Control of a Four Independent Wheel Drive Electric Vehicle

In recent years the interest towards electric vehicles has increased. Among the different layout of the electric powertrain, four in-wheel motors appear to be one of the most attractive. This configuration in fact allows to re-design inner spaces of the vehicle and presents, as an embedded feature, the possibility of independently distributed braking and driving torques on the wheels in order to generate a yaw moment able to improve vehicle handling (torque vectoring). The present paper presents and compares two different torque vectoring control strategies for an electric vehicle with four in-wheel motors. Performances of the control strategies are evaluated by means of numerical simulations of open and closed loop maneuvers, also taking into account their energetic efficiency.