Development of Three-Motor Electric Vehicle “EMIRAI 2 xEV” 2015-01-1597

Mitsubishi Electric has developed a concept car “EMIRAI 2 xEV” that features an electric vehicle (EV) powertrain for safe, comfortable, eco-friendly driving experiences in the future. The vehicle was exhibited during the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show and the 2014 Automotive Engineering Exposition. The xEV is a four-wheel-drive EV with three motors: a water-cooled front motor and two air-cooled rear motors with integrated inverters. The rear wheels can be driven independently. The degrees of freedom of the actuation can realize improved maneuverability and safety. The vehicle is also equipped with an onboard charger with a built-in step down DC/DC converter, an EV control unit, a battery management unit, and electric power steering. All of the instruments are developed by Mitsubishi Electric. Motion control systems for the xEV have been developed based on our proprietary motor control technology. In particular, this paper shows the design of three controllers: the high-precision traction control, the smooth G control, and the speed control. The effectiveness of the controllers is verified in simulations and driving experiments.