The existing energy management strategies for four-wheel-drive electric vehicles only take into account the vehicle energy consumption under static adhesion constraints. However, the front and rear axle loads transfer under dynamic conditions lead to the variations of vehicle adhesion characteristics, which results in the changes of vehicle energy consumptions. In this paper, a multi-objective optimal torque distribution strategy is proposed, taking into account the front and rear axle load transfer and the variations of adhesion characteristics. The advantages of the proposed strategy are verified through simulation studies in terms of vehicle energy consumption and wheel slip ratio, in comparison with the average torque distribution strategy and the optimal torque distribution strategy based on Sequential Quadratic Programming Algorithm. The simulation results show that the economy performance of the proposed strategy is superior to those of the competing methods. Furthermore, the proposed strategy provides good power performance and eliminates excessive wheel slip, which in turn ensures vehicle longitudinal stability and avoids energy loss resulting from frequent ASR interventions. INDEX TERMS Axle load transfer, optimal efficiency, slip ratio, all-wheel-drive torque distribution, vehicle longitudinal stability.