Electric vehicles are spreading in automotive industry pushed by the need of reducing greenhouse gas. However, the use of multiple electric motors, i.e., one per wheel, allows to redefine the vehicle powertrain layout with great benefits on vehicle dynamics. Electric motors braking torque is in general not enough to produce high decelerations. Hydraulic friction brakes are still necessary for safety reasons and to avoid oversized motors. This paper presents a control strategy for distributed electric motors (EM), one per wheel, to maximize the regenerative braking. The controller handles cooperative braking among EMs and hydraulic brakes, which are still necessary to guarantee top braking performance of the car. The proposed algorithm considers the driver requested braking torque as well as the required yaw moment by stability control system. Motor efficiency map and wheel normal load are considered to optimally distribute the torques. With respect to conventional distribution strategies, the presented algorithm improves performance, maximizing the regenerative braking power.
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