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Today functional safety is not an optional part of a vehicle; it is a must that should be taken into account throughout the development process. Fifteen years ago, the first functional safety concepts appeared, and since then technologies have changed in order to fulfill emission standards and client requirements. In parallel, electronic components and vehicle architectures have become increasingly complex in proportion to this evolution. As a result, hazards due to hardware or software failures have increased exponentially, which has led automotive companies to define monitoring concepts and standards. Over recent years, manufacturers have joined efforts to harmonize their solutions in order to ensure the same level of safety. This has led to the creation of standards such as ISO 26262 or recommendations like E-Gas whose purpose is to give recommendations in terms of the development process and monitoring of a vehicle.

Despite increasing interest in alternatives to internal-combustion engine powered vehicles, still few manufacturers are releasing mass production electric vehicles to the market. The typical vehicle segments for EVs are urban vehicles, such as scooters, passenger cars or light-duty trucks due to their particular usage profiles and end users' acceptance of lower speeds and range. Applus IDIADA has electrified a small 4WD SUV with one electric motor per wheel. The main objective was to develop, test and validate new strategies for improving dynamic stability control by actively regulating the torque distribution between the four electric motors. Independent wheel drive concepts contribute to better driveability; however, they also involve new safety risks. A failure in a motor or related component can lead to a strong disruption of the vehicle's dynamic stability, causing critical situations for the driver or passengers.