Energy consumption analysis of a novel four-speed dual motor drivetrain for electric vehicles

The electric vehicle is becoming increasingly prevalent as a viable option to replace hydrocarbon fuelled vehicles, and as such the development of high efficiency fully electric drivetrains is a particularly relevant research topic. The drivetrain topology is one of the main focuses of research on fully electric drivetrains, because of the variety of available options. For example, the adoption of multiple-speed mechanical transmissions can improve both the performance and energy consumption when compared to a single-speed transmission. A four-speed, dual motor drivetrain design is presented in this article which works on the principle of two double-speed transmissions, each driven by a separate motor linked through a sole secondary shaft. This drivetrain architecture provides increased flexibility of the electric motor operating points, theoretically being beneficial to the overall efficiency of the system for any driving condition. This paper presents the design of the transmission, its governing equations and the method adopted to optimize the state selection map and electric motor torque distribution. A backward-facing energy consumption model is used to compare the results of the four-speed transmission with those of single- and double-speed transmissions for four case study vehicles.