Navigating the Challenges of Multi-Motor EVs (Download)

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As with internal-combustion vehicles, the advantages of all-wheel drive for electric vehicles have been obvious from the start as has been the potential to provide multiple motors, ideally one for each driven wheel. Such vehicles have become more common, but they continue to present designers with challenges.

• The primary electrical challenges of controlling a four-motor EV include: 
• Complex torque vectoring algorithms to manage individual wheel torque
• Increased wiring complexity
• Potentially higher power demands on the battery and control system under some conditions
• The need for precise synchronization of motor controls