e-POWER 4WD

e-POWER 4WD is an electric 4WD system that generates electricity with the engine and drives the four wheels with two high-output motors.

Taking advantage of the unique characteristics of the electric motors, e-POWER 4WD provides high-speed and high-precision control of driving force, which could not be achieved with conventional mechanical 4WD, thereby realizing powerful and stable driving in a wide range of situations, from daily driving to slippery roads.

System Operation

According to the situation, front and rear driving force are changed at high speed and with high precision, thereby realizing powerful and stable driving.

[When launching]

e-POWER 4WD drives with all four wheels in all vehicle speed ranges.
Taking advantage of the unique characteristics of motors that can control torque with high precision in response to the driver's accelerator operation, e-POWER 4WD smoothly drives all four wheels when the accelerator is depressed, and, if one drive wheel slips, it quickly distributes drive power to the other drive wheel.
This enables smooth and powerful starts even on slippery, snowy slopes.

[When decelerating]

When the accelerator is released, the front and rear motors employ regenerative braking in a well-balanced manner and decelerate the vehicle. This suppresses pitching behavior in the vehicle's body and realizes flat and smooth deceleration.
Additionally, by constantly monitoring each wheel's degree of slippage and automatically controlling the amount of regenerative braking on slippery road surfaces, slippage is minimized and the vehicle stably decelerates.

[When cornering]

e-POWER 4WD, which can independently change front and rear driving force, does not have drive force distribution restrictions like conventional mechanical 4WD, and can freely change the front and rear driving force according to driving conditions such as vehicle attitude.
For example, e-POWER 4WD demonstrates high cornering performance by increasing the driving force of the rear wheels during acceleration, increasing the driving force of the front wheels when cornering, and utilizing the tires which can exert more gripping power.

Changes the distribution of driving force according to driving conditions such as vehicle posture

System Mechanism

Two high-power motors independently drive the front and rear wheels.
Compared to conventional mechanical 4WD that can only vary the distribution of driving force up to 50:50 due to their structure, motor 4WD systems have the potential to freely change the driving force distribution from 100:0 to 0:100.
e-POWER 4WD drives with all four wheels in all vehicle speed ranges, and, depending on vehicle attitude and slip conditions, freely changes the driving force distribution so that the tires can exert more gripping power, thereby realizing stable driving performance.

RELATED TECHNOLOGY

e-POWER system

e-POWER delivers a responsive and quiet drive like an EV.

e-POWER control technology

Advanced control technology supports the powerful and quiet driving that is characteristic of motor drive

e-POWER's internal combustion engine achieves 50% thermal efficiency

Efficient, fixed-point operation is achieved by restricting the engine's operating range, which is only possible for an engine that is dedicated to electricity generation

The further evolution of e-POWER control technology

Providing even better fuel efficiency and quietness by controlling when to generate power.