System, architecture, and method for minimizing power consumption and increasing performance in electric vehicles
First Claim
1. An electrical drive system for a vehicle, the drive system comprising:
- a drive arrangement configured for connection with a vehicle wheel;
a parallel gear set connected to the drive arrangement wherein said parallel gear set includes first and second inputs;
a differential gear set including an output connected to said second input of the parallel gear set;
a plurality of electric motors including a first motor, a second motor, and a third motor, the second motor connected to said first input of the parallel gear seat, and the third motor selectively connected to a first input of the differential gear set wherein said first input of said differential gear set comprises a differential port of said differential gear set; and
an electronic control unit (ECU) configured to execute control logic stored in a memory associated with said ECU to control the operation of the plurality of electric motors.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An electric vehicle accomplishes speed changes through the use of electronically controlled, multiple electric motor configurations that are coupled to an output drive shaft instead of a speed change transmission. A parallel-coupled motor configuration includes at least two motors that are each coupled to the output drive shaft through respective gear arrangements, each gear arrangement having a respective gear ratio. In a serially-coupled motor configuration, the stator of the second motor is coupled to the rotor of the first motor, where the rotor of the second motor is coupled to the output drive shaft. The required torque to reach or maintain a desired vehicle speed can be obtained by selective energization of either one or both of the motors (in both multi-motor configurations). Two motors are also coupled to a differential gear so that the rotational speed contributed by both motors are additive at the output shaft.
130 Citations
31 Claims
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1. An electrical drive system for a vehicle, the drive system comprising:
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a drive arrangement configured for connection with a vehicle wheel; a parallel gear set connected to the drive arrangement wherein said parallel gear set includes first and second inputs; a differential gear set including an output connected to said second input of the parallel gear set; a plurality of electric motors including a first motor, a second motor, and a third motor, the second motor connected to said first input of the parallel gear seat, and the third motor selectively connected to a first input of the differential gear set wherein said first input of said differential gear set comprises a differential port of said differential gear set; and an electronic control unit (ECU) configured to execute control logic stored in a memory associated with said ECU to control the operation of the plurality of electric motors. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An electrical drive system for a vehicle, the system comprising:
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a drive arrangement configured for connection with a vehicle wheel; a parallel gear set connected to the drive arrangement; a first differential gear set including an output connected to a first input of the parallel gear set; a second differential gear set including an output connected to a second input of the parallel gear set; a plurality of electric motors including a first motor, a second motor connected to a first input of the first differential gear set wherein said first input comprises a differential port of the first differential gear set, and a third motor connected to a first input of the second differential gear set; and an electronic control unit (ECU) configured to execute control logic stored in a memory associated with said ECU to control the operation of the plurality of electric motors. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification