Abstract: This invention concerns an electric drive system (200) for driving an output. The electric drive system comprises: a first electric motor (250) arranged to drive a first input shaft (230) at a first angular velocity, ?1, and a second electric motor (260) arranged to drive a second input shaft (240) at a second angular velocity, ?2. A gear mechanism (210) is provided and is arranged to transmit angular rotation of the first (230) and second (240) input shafts to drive the output (220) at an output angular velocity, ?out, such that ?out is proportional to a?1-b?2, where a and b are constants. The electric drive system (200) further comprises a controller (270) arranged to control operation of the first (250) and second (260) electric motors. When the output (220) is to be driven from ?out=0, the controller (270) is arranged to control the first (250) and second (260) electric motors to drive the first (230) and second (240) input shafts.