The in-wheel motor drive can greatly simplify the chassis mechanical structure and improve the control accuracy of the vehicle. An 11-degrees-of-freedom hub-driven vehicle modelis first established in Catia software, and then a layered control strategy of the improved sliding mode control is designed in the MATLAB/Simulink environment., and the control strategy of the upper and lower controllers is analyzed. The improved nonlinear sliding mode control method is integrated, which not only improved the robustness and response speed, but also has strong anti-interference ability. The working conditions and the serpentine working conditions are verified. The siimulation and test results show that the strategy can significantly improve the stability and power transmission efficiency of the in-wheel drive axle vehicle motion.