Reducing energy consumption of a power steering system using wheel individual electric drives and an optimized chassis concept

In our collaboration research project e²-Lenk we design a novel power steering system for electric vehicles using wheel individual drives. Using a suitable chassis and control system, the drive train can induce a steering torque into the steering system. Our novel power steering system is able to reduce the energy consumption of electric vehicles in many driving situations compared to vehicles with conventional power steering systems. We identified that an optimized chassis concept further improves the system. With an optimized front suspension and our novel power steering system we reduce the energy consumption around 1.9% compared to conventional suspension design.