A review of the design process of energy management systems for dual-motor battery electric vehicles

Dual-motor battery electric vehicles (DM-BEVs) are a trending technology in the electric vehicle market. They have the potential to achieve higher energy savings and dynamic performances compared to single-speed, single-motor BEVs. However, a more complex and robust energy management system (EMS) is needed to achieve these benefits. Hence, this work reviews the design process and real-time implementation of EMSs tailored for DM-BEVs, starting from the fundamental concepts of two-motor coupling. The advantages and disadvantages of the most popular dual-motor architectures and their influence on the EMS design complexity are presented, followed by a revision of the reported energy management controllers. Besides the most prominent methods, classified as rule-based or optimization-based techniques, reinforcement learning-based EMSs are discussed in detail, given their near-optimal, real-time implementation and adaptability to newer, unforeseen drive cycles. Finally, the standard procedures and equipment required to assess the EMS’ performance with hardware-in-the-loop tests are presented. Conclusions and open challenges for the energy management controllers of DM-BEVs are discussed at the end of this work.