Development of a vehicle stability control strategy for a hybrid electric vehicle equipped with axle motors

This study focuses on the benefits of utilizing the axle electric motors of hybrid electric vehicles for vehicle stability control. In that context, a differential braking and driving vehicle stability control strategy that is developed for a hybrid electric sport utility vehicle equipped with axle motors is presented. The developed strategy that is based on integrated electrohydraulic braking and axle motor torque control is compared with the production vehicle stability control schemes, by real-time simulations of extreme steering maneuvers, using controller and vehicle models built in the MATLAB/Simulink environment. The comparison is made in terms of the stability and performance, and also from an energy consumption standpoint which is an important feature of hybrid electric vehicles.