System and method for diagnosing a park function for an in-wheel electric motor

A computing device configured to execute instructions stored in memory that, when executed, cause the computing device to carry out steps for diagnosing a park function in a vehicle including a plurality of in-wheel motors each including first and second planetary gear sets, the steps including:

• selectively engaging both of the first and second planetary gear sets in each of the plurality of in-wheel motors to place each of the in-wheel motors into a park state;
• engaging respective locking mechanisms of each of the in-wheel motors to lock each of the respective first and second gear sets in the engaged condition;
• upon ignition of the vehicle, determining whether a corresponding one of the in-wheel motors maintains the park state by performing a motor rocking function on the corresponding in-wheel motor to move the engaged first and second planetary gear sets forward and backward with a predefined force and determine whether the resultant forward and backward movement of the engaged first and second planetary gear sets is less than or greater than a predetermined threshold;
• and
• operating the vehicle in a selected one of a plurality of operating modes based on the determination of whether the corresponding one of the in-wheel motors maintained the park state.