Driving characteristics of an electric vehicle system with independently driven front and rear wheels

A new type of electric vehicle drive system, which has independently driven front and rear wheels, is proposed. This structure can distribute the driving and braking torque according to running and load conditions, and provides a fail-safe effect. Moreover, it is possible to improve drivability, steering ability, and stability while running and braking by arranging a permanent magnet synchronous motor and an induction motor for driving the front and rear wheels, respectively. These are important functions for an urban car to easily cope with common situations such as traffic jams and starting and stopping operations, and the special situation of failure of the motor drive system while running on city routes. The functions are verified through simulations and experiments with the bench test equipment equivalent to the actual system.