Interrupt-Free Operation of Dual-Motor Four-Wheel Drive Electric Vehicle under Inverter Failure

Abstract

This article presents a new open-end winding induction motor (OEWIM)-based dual-motor differential four-wheel drive (D4WD) for the electric vehicle (EV). Constant speed operation through cruise control is achieved using direct torque control (DTC) algorithm. The redundant vectors are used in the switching vector selection of the DTC algorithm to achieve balanced battery currents. Fault-tolerant operation (FTO) of the drive is demonstrated, where the EV will work with full torque even if one of the inverters in rear motor drive or front motor drive or both fail. The dynamic model of the proposed drive is presented. The proposed drive and FTO are verified through simulation as per the FTP-75 driving cycle. An experimental prototype of the proposed drive is developed, and the abovementioned algorithms are verified experimentally as per the FTP-75 and HFET driving cycles. Both the simulation and experimental results are presented, and these results agree with the theoretical observations. Stable operation of EV for the entire test cycle under normal operation, as well as inverter fault conditions, is demonstrated.