Stability control of distributed-drive electric vehicles considering hub motor response discrepancies

To mitigate vehicle instability phenomena, including runaway, understeer, and oversteer, in distributed-drive vehicles caused by variations in hub motor response, this study proposes a hierarchical control architecture for vehicle stability. The hierarchical strategy integrates an upper-level controller that implements an additional yaw torque controller based on model predictive control (MPC). This controller calculates the required supplementary yaw torque in real time to track the desired yaw rate and center-of-mass sideslip angle. The lower-level controller optimizes wheel torque distribution by minimizing the tyre load ratio. A co-simulation model is developed using Simulink and CarSim, and typical driving scenarios, including straight-line driving and single-lane changes, are employed for validation. The results indicate that the hierarchical control strategy effectively compensates for hub motor response discrepancies and enhances vehicle driving stability.