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JSAE 20199172
SAE 2019-01-2216

Development of Electric 4WD System

For Compact Hybrid Car

Yasuhiro Konishi, Masahito Taira, Hideaki Ootsuka
Tomohiro Ito, Kantaro Yoshimoto
NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD

Copyright © 2019 SAE Japan and Copyright © 2019 SAE International

ABSTRACT compared to the conventional mechanical 4WD. In

2018 Nissan launched e-POWER 4WD based on e-
In 2016, NISSAN launched a new electric power train 4WD system to e-POWER. In order to add existing e-
for compact cars that shares the traction system for 4WD to e-POWER, it is necessary to connect the
electric vehicle. NISSAN had utilized this high potential dedicated generator for e-4WD to ICE in addition to the
electric powertrain to combine the simple 4WD system, generator for e-POWER. Since this electric 4WD
driven by electric motor. In 2002, NISSAN released a system always requires power generation for e-4WD
simple electric motor driven 4WD system for compact in ICE for 4WD operation, the EV driving range which
car that converts the engine output to electricity and is the merit of e-POWER is limited. Because the 4WD
drives the rear wheels with a direct current (DC) driving force at the start depends on the generated
electric motor. This paper describes the system power synchronized with the ICE rotation speed, there
configuration and the value of new driving by is a problem that it is impossible to freely select the
combination of electric 4WD and new electric engine operating point which is a feature of e-POWER.
powertrain. In order to solve these problems, the e-4WD system
was redesigned as to a power supply / power control
INTRODUCTION method by a DC / DC converter from high voltage
battery, and a rear wheel driving force control suitable
NISSAN has introduced “e-POWER” which is the for this system has been developed. This newly
electric powertrain as 100% electric drive for the developed system and control can provide a practical
compact segment vehicle for Japanese market since 4WD system without losing the features of e-POWER.
2016. The e-POWER has the following two features
thanks to the drive system and the power generation OVERVIEW OF E-POWER 4WD SYSTEM
system are mechanically separated. Feature (1) is that
the basic components of the drive system and its The system configuration is shown in figure. 1. The e-
control can be carried over from Electric Vehicles POWER system is controlled by the vehicle control
(EVs). Feature (2) is that e-POWER system control module (VCM), which is linked to the motor controller
can freely select the internal combustion engine (ICE) (MC), generator controller (GC), battery management
speed and the torque regardless of the running system (BMS) and the engine control module (ECM).
condition. Feature (1) can provide good driving Figure 1 shows the configuration of the e-POWER
performance by 100% electric motor drive same as EV, system. VCM controls power generation with optimum
and feature (2) can control the operating point with energy management. VCM and 4WD Control Unit
good efficiency. Selection of this operating point can (4WDCU) control the distribution of driving force for the
improve the fuel economy and NVH. On the other hand, front and rear wheels.
NISSAN has developed a motor-driven 4WD system
(e-4WD) for compact cars with a simple configuration
that a DC rear drive motor is connected with a
generator through DC electric circuits since 2002. The
e-4WD system has the merit of not requiring the
traction battery. This system has a traction control
function for suppressing wheel slip of the front and rear
wheels, so that the vehicle stability can be improved
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Fig. 1 Configuration of e-POWER 4WD system

Table 1 shows the specifications of electric powertrain

components. The front traction motor is same one
used for e-POWER 2WD model, thus the maximum
motor power and torque are also exactly same. The Fig.2 In-Vehicle layout of e-POWER 4WD
rear motor was carried over from e-4WD for ICE model.
SYSTEM DESIGN
Table 1 Specification of e-POWER 4WD components
Vehicle NOTE e-POWER 4WD The basic development concept of e-POWER 4WD is
Type AC synchronous motor
the following three.
Front
Max. Pow er 80 kW
e-Motor (1) The value of EV driving can be kept as e-POWER
Drive Max. Torque 254 Nm
System Type DC motor
Rear
Max. Pow er 3.5kW (2) 4WD performance with smooth driving for daily
e-Motor
Max. Torque 15Nm usage in cold region
Max. Pow er 55 kW
Generator
Max. Torque 63 Nm (3) Quietness as e-POWER
Type Gasoline
Generating
Displacement 1,198 cc Regarding 4WD for e-POWER, the configuration
System
Engine Cylinders 3 shown in table 2 was considered as concept design.
Max. Pow er 58kW The mechanical 4WD and the electrical 4WD having
Max. Torque 103Nm high voltage electric motor are not suitable for compact
Type Li-ion segment vehicle from the viewpoint of layout. In case
Battery
Capacity 1.47kWh
of e-4WD driving with conventional generator installed
on e-POWER (e-4WD ICE + GEN), this system can not
LAYOUT OF E-POWER 4WD keep EV running and quietness. The new system
configuration as e-4WD powered by DC / DC
Figure 2 shows the components layout of the e- converter (e-4WD DCDC) meet three of basic
POWER 4WD system including the battery pack. The development concepts and is superior in terms of
e-POWER system mounted in the engine room is packaging.
carried over components (ICE, generator, gearbox,
drive motor, inverter, and high voltage battery) used for Table 2 Comparison of 4WD concept
the front engine front drive (FF) e-POWER system. Mechanical e-4WD e-4WD Electrical
The gearbox houses two gear trains within one 4WD ICE+GEN DCDC 4WD
package; one serving as the motor-drive reducer and
the other as the multiplier for engine-based power EV range + - + +
generation. The drivetrain system and the power 4WD
generation system including ICE are integrally performance + - + +
assembled via the gearbox. The inverters for the front
motor and the generator are packaged in a box NVH + - + +
described as Inverter in figure. 2. The inverters are
connected with the front motor and the generator by a Packaging - + + -
three-phase harness. The battery pack is designed to
be a compact package so that it can be placed under
the front seat. The DC / DC converter, the rear motor, The 4WD target performance for developed vehicle is
and the rear drive unit for the e-POWER 4WD system set as standing start performance on frozen road and
are installed on rear of the vehicle. The e-POWER hill climbing performance on icy road with smooth
4WD system having compact components can realize driving. These performance are most concerned about
to install 4WD system on compact segment vehicles. daily usage in cold regions. The required specifications
for the rear motor are shown in figure 3 as rear motor
torque vs. vehicle speed.
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20
18
Rear motor torque [Nm] 16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0 10 20 30
Vehicle speed [km/h]

Fig.3 Rear motor torque characteristic

In order to satisfy the rear motor specification in

figure.3, DC/DC converter as a power conversion
circuit for rear motor is designed having the
specification as output voltage and current shown in
figure.4.

70

60 Fig.5 Structure of rear wheel drive unit

Output Voltage [V]

50
The driving force distribution control in VCM is shown
40 in figure 6. VCM calculates the total target driving force
and the maximum rear torque based on the vehicle
30 speed and the accelerator opening ratio, then VCM
commands maximum rear torque to 4WDCU. 4WDCU
20
sends the estimated rear drive torque to VCM, and
10 VCM calculates the front drive torque to keep the total
target driving force as the vehicle.
0
0 50 100 150 200 250
Output current [A]

Fig.4 DC/DC converter characteristic

MOTOR TORQUE CONTROL

Drive torque to the rear wheel drive motor is produced

by the stator armature current and the rotor field
current. The stator armature current is controlled by
the DC/DC converter, and the motor field current is
controlled by the power conversion circuit in 4WDCU.
Figure 5 shows structure of rear wheel drive unit. The
rear motor torque is amplified by the reduction gear in
the rear wheel drive unit and is transmitted to the rear Fig.6 Configuration of control system
wheel via the electromagnetic clutch and the
differential gear. Based on the wheel speed signals of the four wheels,
4WDCU controls the required rear wheel drive motor
torque command. Then, 4WDCU controls the stator
armature current of the rear motor by feedback control
using current sensor a voltage command to DC/DC
converter. Furthermore, 4WDCU estimates the rear
motor torque from measured current as output of
DC/DC converter, and estimated motor torque is sent
to VCM as rear torque. The electromagnetic clutch
located between the differential gear and the reduction
gear is controlled by 4WDCU in order to transmit the
rear motor torque to axle shaft.

4WDCU has the input of 4WD switch. In case of 2WD

is selected by the switch operation, it is possible to
disconnect the clutch.
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4WD SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT Gear noise reduction

Configuration of DC / DC converter Early in the development of e-POWER 4WD, the

conventional e-4WD gear unit was carried over, but
The DC/DC converter of this 4WD system has a the gear noise during EV driving was an issue.
primary and a secondary DC/DC converter to expand Measures to improve the mount rigidity of the motor
the operation area as figure.7. The primary DCDC and to correct the transfer characteristics of the rear
supplies power only in low current condition. The unit could reduce the gear noise during EV operation.
secondary DCDC is activated in high current condition
with the primary DCDC, because DCDC heat 4WD PERFORMANCE
generation at high power demand is required to be
reduced. In the configuration and control of the conventional e -
4WD system, the distribution of driving force to the rear
wheels depended on the engine speed when starting
on a low μ road. Therefore, when the engine speed is
low at initiation of start acceleration, it is impossible to
make full use of the potential torque of the rear wheel
drive motor. This e-POWER 4WD system can control
the torque by the DC/DC converter independent of the
engine speed, so that the rear motor maximum torque
can be generated from the beginning of the start
acceleration. In addition, since the responsiveness of
the output control is good when detecting the slip of the
front wheels, a more stable start acceleration can be
achieved compared to the conventional. Figure 9
shows the difference between e-POWER 4WD and
ICE e-4WD when launching on a 4% freezing uphill
road. Compared to the ICE e-4WD method, the e-
Fig.7 Internal structure of DCDC POWER 4WD method has superiority in quick
response and excellent starting performance on low
MOTOR CONTROL μ road.
The e-POWER 4WD is more frequent EV driving than
e-4WD with ICE, then background noise during driving
is lower than that during ICE driving. Therefore, it was
a problem that the motor noise, gear noise and DC/DC
converter noise at the time of standing start.

Motor noise reduction

The e-POWER 4WD can control small rear motor

torque by accelerator operation in the EV creep state.
The sound caused by the motor due to the small motor
torque fluctuation would be felt by the passenger as an
abnormal sound. This sound is also generated in the Fig.9 Comparison of Starting performance
e-4WD with ICE, but it was not perceived by the
passenger as an abnormal sound because of large CONCLUSION
ICE noise. However, in e-POWER EV driving, such a
minor noise fluctuation becomes an issue. In order to The newly developed e-POWER 4WD system can be
suppress the small torque fluctuation, 4WDCU control mounted on a compact car, it can realize 4WD driving
is designed which the rear motor torque is not provided by the rear wheel motor without losing the merit of e-
in small torque region shown in figure.8. POWER EV driving and excellent quietness.

750 REFERENCES
Rear motor torque [Nm]

1. M. Kimura et al., “Development of New-generation

500 e-POWER Hybrid Powertrain,” Nissan technical
Review No80, 2017
250 2. T. Akiba et al., “Development of a Four-Wheel-
After Drive System Using an Electric Motor for Rear-
Before
Wheel Drive,” SAE The 12th International Pacific
0 Conference on Automotive Engineering, 2003
0 300 600 900 1200 1500
Required torque [Nm]

Fig.8 Rear motor torque distribution

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