Abstract: The vehicle dynamics control problem of the distributed drive electric vehicle is reviewed. The main features of the distributed drive electric vehicle is that electric motors are mounted directly in wheels or nearby wheels, which lead to a short and efficient transmission chain, also a compact structure. The electric motor can provide not only quick responses, but also important information. A variety of dynamics control functions can be easily implemented by controlling the drive or brake torque of the electric motor. The distributed drive electric vehicle offers the traction control and anti-lock braking control more rapid and more accurate actuators, but further improvement is needed on both the precision of the state estimation and the robustness of the control algorithm. Compared with the traditional direct yaw moment control, the direct yaw moment control of the distributed drive electric vehicle covers from the conventional condition to the critical cornering condition, but higher requirement is needed on the algorithm adaptation of the nonlinear tire characteristic. The research on the electric differential control, the differential drive assist steering control and the attitude control are still in the infant stage. To eliminate the control conflict between different objectives, the integrated control becomes one of the most important development trends of the distributed drive electric vehicle.

Key words: Acceleration slip regulation, Anti-lock braking system, Direct yaw moment control, Distributed drive electric vehicle, Motion following control, Torque distribution control, Vehicle dynamics control