Distributed-drive electric vehicles (DDEVs) enable independent wheel-torque control, providing flexibility to improve energy efficiency and vehicle stability. However, tire–road adhesion, motor and battery capabilities, and actuator availability constrain these objectives, which may conflict under low-adhesion conditions, high-power acceleration, emergency braking, and combined longitudinal–lateral maneuvers. This paper provides a structured review of coordinated torque-allocation strategies for balancing energy efficiency and stability in DDEVs. Existing research is examined in terms of regenerative braking, tire-slip energy-loss reduction, and stability control under longitudinal, yaw, and combined conditions. Control approaches are classified as rule-based, stability-region-based, mode-switching, multi-objective optimization and predictive control, state-adaptive dynamic-priority coordination, and learning-based safety-hybrid methods. These approaches differ in real-time performance, constraint handling, adaptability, interpretability, and engineering maturity. A hierarchical hybrid architecture integrating rule-based supervision, state assessment, constraint-aware optimization, and learning-based enhancement appears more suitable for practical deployment than a single algorithm or fixed-weighting scheme. Key challenges include dynamic stability-boundary estimation, safety-assured coordination, multi-actuator fault tolerance, real-time implementation, and standardized vehicle-level validation. This review provides guidance for coordinated control-system development and future research on DDEVs.