A method of and an apparatus of controlling a creep torque to be exerted on a vehicle, may include facilitating a control unit to determine from a vehicle speed signal whether or not a vehicle comes to a stop, facilitating the control unit to determine from a slope angle signal a state of a road in accordance with a slope angle of the road; facilitating the control unit to determine a gear-shift step state, facilitating the control unit to decide a creep torque command on the basis of a result of the determination, the gear-shift step state, and information on the state of the road in accordance with the slope angle, and facilitating the control unit to output the decided creep torque command to perform creep torque control that generates a creep torque corresponding to the creep torque command from a motor.

A vehicle system and method for remote start operation in the vehicle system are provided. The method includes responsive to receiving a remote start request and while the vehicle is stationary, automatically engaging a wheel-arresting device coupled to a wheel in the vehicle. The method also includes when an electronically actuated clutch is automatically disengaged and subsequent to the automatic engagement of the wheel-arresting device, implementing remote start operation in an engine, where the wheel-arresting device is distinct from a secondary vehicle brake.

A four-wheel drive vehicle includes: (a) main drive wheels and auxiliary drive wheels; (b) a rotating machine as a drive power source; (c) a drive-power distribution clutch configured to allocate a part of a drive power outputted to the main drive wheels from the drive power source, to the auxiliary drive wheels, so as to distribute the drive power to the main drive wheels and the auxiliary drive wheels with a drive-power distribution ratio between the auxiliary drive wheels and the main drive wheels, such that the drive-power distribution ratio is variable with an engaging force of the drive-power distribution clutch being controlled; and (d) a control apparatus configured, when determining that a heat load of the drive-power distribution clutch is large during deceleration running of the vehicle, to limit a regenerative torque of the rotating machine, as compared with when determining that the heat load is small.

A driving assistance apparatus includes a clutch provided between a drive source and a transmission, a clutch operator with which a driver who drives a vehicle disengages the clutch, a clutch operation detector that detects that the clutch is disengaged, a shift operator with which the driver sets the transmission at least to a neutral position, a shift position detector that detects that the transmission is in the neutral position, a low-speed motor, and a controller that controls a drive force of the low-speed motor. The controller includes a driving mode setter that sets a driving mode of the vehicle to a motor driving mode when the clutch is detected to be disengaged or the transmission is detected to be in the neutral position. The controller stops the drive source and starts the low-speed motor when the driving mode is set to the motor driving mode.

A hitching assistance system for a vehicle includes a steering system including a vehicle steering wheel and a controller executing an automated hitching maneuver including controlling the steering system to back the vehicle toward a trailer, monitoring the hitching assistance system for an interruption event affecting execution of the automated hitching maneuver, detecting the interruption event and identifying the interruption event as one of a standard interruption event or an exception interruption event, upon identifying the standard interruption event, causing the steering wheel to move to a centered position and ceasing control of the steering system, and upon identifying the exception interruption event, ceasing control of the steering system without causing the steering wheel to move to the centered position.

A method of controlling an electrified vehicle to prevent a collision thereof includes: determining whether an accelerator pedal is erroneously operated in the situation in which an obstacle is detected to be present in a traveling path; and when it is determined that the accelerator pedal is erroneously operated, performing braking control such that at least one of hydraulic braking or regenerative braking is selectively performed in a plurality of braking sections determined based on a current vehicle speed and a distance to the obstacle.

A hybrid electric vehicle and a method of controlling the same are provided to avoid a collision thereof attributable to erroneous operation of an accelerator pedal. The method includes determining whether an accelerator pedal is erroneously operated in the situation in which an obstacle is detected to be present in the traveling path. In response to determining that the accelerator pedal is erroneously operated, the method includes switching the driving mode to a mode in which an engine is disconnected from a driving shaft and a motor generates driving force. The number of revolutions per minute (RPM) of the engine is then adjusted based on the extent to which the accelerator pedal is operated and the torque of the motor is adjusted based on a first vehicle speed and the distance to the obstacle.

Method for determining the mass of a vehicle, the method having at least the following steps: at a first point in time, a first driving force and a first longitudinal vehicle acceleration are determined. At a second point in time, which is a defined interval away from the first point in time or is within a defined time interval after the first point in time, a second driving force and a second longitudinal vehicle acceleration are determined. A driving force difference is determined as a function of the first driving force and the second driving force. A longitudinal acceleration difference is determined as a function of the first longitudinal vehicle acceleration and the second longitudinal vehicle acceleration. The mass of the vehicle is determined as a function of a quotient of the driving force difference and the longitudinal acceleration difference.

Non-inverted park lock systems and methods include an engine controller configured to control an engine of a vehicle in communication with a separate transmission controller via a controller area network (CAN), wherein the transmission controller is configured to control a transmission of the vehicle; and a conductor connecting the engine controller to a park lock solenoid disposed in the transmission and configured to move a park pawl to engage/disengage park. The engine controller keeps the park pawl disengaged from park during a power loss malfunction at the transmission controller and the transmission controller keeps the park pawl disengaged from park during a power loss malfunction at the engine controller by maintaining hydraulic pressure in the transmission at a threshold level until park is requested via the shifter.

Methods and systems are provided for inducing vehicle side slip. In one example, a method includes opening a sole driveline disconnect clutch positioned between an engine and an electric machine upstream of a transmission, and closing the sole driveline disconnect clutch within a predetermined amount of time after opening the sole driveline disconnect without shifting gears of the transmission. In this way, vehicle drift may be reliable initiated in a hybrid electric vehicle with an automatic transmission, without shifting gears of the transmission.