Implications of Brake System Concepts without Wheel Individual Rear Axle Brakes with Focus on Differential Gearboxes

The regenerative braking functionality of electric vehicles significantly reduces the use of friction brakes. This can offer a potential for downsizing or, in extreme cases, even elimination of the friction brakes particularly on the rear axle due to the reduced brake torque demand. However, the elimination of wheel individual brake torque interventions of electronic stability control (ESC) on the driven axle makes acceleration on gradients with inhomogeneous surface ( \(\mu \) -split) impossible, jeopardising state-of-art vehicle safety. Limited slip differentials that can support in such situation may negatively affect the driving comfort, efficiency and tyre wear. This study investigates the impact of locking differentials with different operating principles in a representative driving cycle for typical everyday use utilising a dynamic simulation environment.