Torque Distribution Strategy for Multi-PMSM Applications and Optimal Acceleration Control for Four-Wheel-Drive Electric Vehicles

In this paper, a general torque distribution strategy is proposed to improve the drivetrain efficiency of four-wheel-drive electric vehicles (EVs). The strategy allows the same or different motors to be equipped in the front and rear wheels. The model of the drivetrain considers the loss properties of four permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs) and four inverters over a wide range of torque and speed. The relationship between the drivetrain efficiency and the torque split ratio at any given speed is proven to be convex under both traction and regenerative braking conditions. It is shown that, when all four motors are identical, the maximum efficiency can be achieved if the total torque is equally shared. An equivalent loss strategy, which is a general method and can solve many optimization problems of multi-PMSM applications, is proposed to maximize the drivetrain efficiency when different PMSMs are used in the front and rear wheels. The effectiveness of the proposed strategy is verified using an urban dynamometer driving schedule (UDDS). In addition, the acceleration process of EVs is optimized using a dynamic programming approach to minimize acceleration duration and energy consumption. Simulation results show that, with the proposed strategy, the energy loss during the acceleration can be reduced by up to 15%.