A method for operating a motor vehicle including a drive mechanism having at least a first drive unit and at least a second drive unit is provided. The method includes providing a drive torque directed at the driving of the motor vehicle in a first setting of the drive mechanism only by means of the second drive unit and in a second setting by means of both drive units, wherein upon exceeding a start-up threshold value by a demanded preset power there is a switching from the first setting to the second setting, and upon falling below a shut-off threshold value by the demanded preset power there is a switching from the second setting to the first setting. It is provided that the start-up threshold value and/or the shut-off threshold value is determined in dependence on a driving resistance of the motor vehicle and/or a vehicle weight of the motor vehicle. A motor vehicle employing the method is also provided.

A monitoring system and method determine a consumption metric representative of one or more of an amount of fuel consumed or an amount of energy consumed by a vehicle during travel over a route. The consumption metric is independent of one or more of vehicle load or elevation change over the route. The system and method optionally can determine a route condition metric representative of a condition of a route traveled upon by a vehicle. The route condition metric is based on a comparison between an actual grade of the route at one or more locations along the route and an estimated grade of the route at the one or more locations.

The invention relates to a method for assisting a driver of a vehicle (1) having an electric drive, in which a list of predefined influencing variables for the consumption of electrical energy by the vehicle (1) is drawn up and output by an output device (14), with the influencing variables relating to factors which can be influenced by the driver of the vehicle (1), the method comprising the following steps: a) calling up characteristic maps which specify a relationship between energy consumption and the various influencing variables, b) determining possible optimizations of the energy consumption by modifying a particular influencing variable, c) computing possible energy savings on implementation of the possible optimizations of the particular influencing variable using the characteristic maps retrieved, d) sorting the influencing variables in the list.

A method for determining a heating load of a hybrid electric vehicle includes determining an SOC of a high-voltage battery through a controller, determining whether or not there is a heating request, based on a travel pattern input, through the controller when the SOC of the high-voltage battery is normal, calculating a required heating load according to the travel pattern input when there is the heating request, calculating an environmental condition according to an environment of the vehicle when there is the heating request, calculating a final heating load value through a combination of the calculated required heating load and the environmental condition of the vehicle, and adjusting a basic request engine torque according to the travel pattern input, taking into consideration the calculated final heating load value, and controlling driving of an engine based on the adjusted basic request engine torque.

Disclosed is a method for controlling engagement of an engine clutch in a hybrid electric vehicle in which an engagement control method of the engine clutch is accurately determined so as to minimize a determination error and a sense of discontinuity caused by conversion of the engagement control method resulting therefrom.

Presented are hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) powertrains and control logic for optimized regenerative braking (regen), methods for making/using such systems, and HEVs with increased regen through reduced engine and transmission friction. A method of operating an HEV includes determining if an REV operating state or fault prevents engagement of a regen control operation and, if not, responsively determining if a torque request for the REV's powertrain is less than a road load on the HEV. The regen control operation is executed responsive to the torque request being less than the road load. The regen control operation includes the power transmission drivingly disconnecting the engine from the road wheels, and the engine operating at a target engine speed. A negative torque offset to maintain a vehicle deceleration rate after disconnecting the engine from the road wheels is calculated; the traction motor outputs a negative torque based on this negative torque offset.

A system and approach for a vehicle system. The vehicle system may include a vehicle, a propulsion device (e.g., a combustion engine or electric motor), and a controller. The propulsion device may at least partially power the vehicle. The controller may be in communication with the propulsion device and may control the propulsion device according to a target speed of the vehicle. The controller may include a model of energy balances of the vehicle and may use the model to estimate energy losses over a travel horizon of the vehicle. The controller may optimize a cost function over the travel horizon of the vehicle based at least in part on the estimated energy losses to set an actual speed for the vehicle. The estimated energy losses may include one or more of aerodynamic drag, vehicle friction, and conversion efficiency from the propulsion device.

A transmission includes an input shaft coupled to a prime mover, a countershaft, main shaft, and an output shaft, with gears between the countershaft and the main shaft. A shift actuator selectively couples the input shaft to the main shaft by rotatably coupling gears between the countershaft and the main shaft. The shift actuator is mounted on an exterior wall of a housing including the countershaft and the main shaft. An integrated actuator housing includes a single external power access for the shift actuator. A controller interprets a shaft displacement angle, determines if the transmission is in an imminent zero or zero torque region, and performs a transmission operation in response to the transmission in the imminent zero or zero torque region.

An engine clutch disengagement control method for a hybrid electric vehicle is disclosed to overcome a sense of discontinuous travel caused when an engine clutch is disengaged due to influence of the inaccuracy of model engine torque. The method includes: acquiring vehicle acceleration information during engine clutch disengagement control of the hybrid electric vehicle, determining whether a predetermined condition for determining inaccuracy of model engine torque required for engine clutch disengagement control is satisfied from the acquired vehicle acceleration information, when the predetermined condition is satisfied, determining a situation in which the model engine torque is inaccurate and calculating target compensation torque using the vehicle acceleration information, calculating a target slippage amount in a transmission clutch using the calculated target compensation torque, and performing transmission clutch torque control for inducing slippage in a transmission clutch based on the target slippage amount and a current transmission speed.

A method of controlling an axle assembly includes providing an axle assembly in a first state. A first controller is provided in electrical communication with the axle assembly. The first controller determines if a source of power has an available amount of electrical energy that is within a predetermined range and a predetermined period of time has elapsed. If the available amount of electrical energy is within the predetermined range and the predetermined period of time has elapsed, then electrical energy is transferred from the source of power to an electric motor generator and an axle disconnect clutch is engaged to provide the axle assembly in another state.