A vehicle includes a traction battery, an electric machine, a relay electrically between the traction battery and electric machine, and a controller. When closed, the relay completes an electrical circuit including the traction battery and electric machine. The controller selectively commands the relay to open based on a voltage across a coil of the relay and a current through the coil.

A vehicle control apparatus includes a controller that switches a vehicle between an HEV traveling mode and an EV traveling mode. When the output current of a DC-to-DC converter becomes equal to or higher than a threshold, the controller decreases the output current by decreasing the output voltage of the DC-to-DC converter through output regulation control. The controller makes switching between a normal setting in which the threshold for the output regulation control is set to a reference threshold and a boost setting in which the threshold is set to a boost threshold higher than the reference threshold. The controller prohibits the boost setting when a power margin for boosting becomes equal to or lower than a first power margin value in the HEV traveling mode and when the power margin for the boosting becomes equal to or lower than a second power margin value in the EV traveling mode.

A controller, responsive to accelerator pedal release and a speed of the vehicle being less than a threshold, operates an electric machine to provide braking torque according to a predetermined speed versus time profile that defines a predetermined duration for the speed to become zero and a target speed for each time instant during the predetermined duration such that, for a given one of the time instants, the electric machine increases the braking torque responsive to the speed being greater than the target speed and decreases the braking torque responsive to the speed being less than the target speed.

A vehicle includes a controller configured to switch between a constant speed traveling mode in which a vehicle speed is held constant and an inertial traveling mode in which a prime mover is stopped or in an idling state, and a clutch apparatus configured to connect and disconnect power transmission between the prime mover and an output target, and the controller controls the clutch apparatus and decreases a clutch capacity so as to transit to the inertial traveling mode when detected that the vehicle is traveling on a downhill road during the constant speed traveling mode, and the controller controls the clutch apparatus and increases the clutch capacity so as to transit to the constant speed traveling mode when detected that the vehicle traveling on the downhill road has terminated.

A vehicle, ship, construction machinery, robot, etc., can conserve fuel and extend its travel distance by repeatedly cutting off energy (gasoline, batteries, etc.) to generate “inertia force,” running by this “inertia force,” adding energy again before the running speed reaches zero, and then cutting off energy again.

A regenerative torque control unit is configured to reduce a regenerative torque and increase a rising gradient of the regenerative torque at a start of regeneration when a road surface friction coefficient acquired by a road surface friction coefficient acquisition unit is low as compared to when the road surface friction coefficient is high. Thus, it is possible to suppress occurrence of a slip on a low μ road, and it is less likely to provide a feeling of strangeness from a change between a low μ road and a high μ road.

A hybrid vehicle includes a battery, a generating unit having an internal combustion engine and a generator which generates electric power by operating the internal combustion engine to supply the generated electric power to a motor or the battery, and the motor which is driven by the electric power supplied from at least one of the battery and the generating unit. A generation control apparatus for the hybrid vehicle evaluates the driving condition of the vehicle from viewpoints of the energy consumption at the motor, the NV performance of the vehicle and the generation efficiency of the generating unit and determines whether or not the operation of the generating unit is necessary based on an evaluation parameter of any one or more viewpoints.

Vehicles may be composed of a relatively few number of “modules” that are assembled together during a final assembly process. An example vehicle may include a body module, a first drive module coupled to a first end of the body module, and a second drive module coupled to a second end of the body module. One or both of the drive modules may include a pair of wheels, a battery, an electric drive motor, and/or a heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system. One or both of the drive modules may also include a crash structure to absorb impacts. If a component of a drive module fails or is damaged, the drive module can be quickly and easily replaced with a new drive module, minimizing vehicle down time.

An electronic control unit of a hybrid vehicle is configured to determine whether or not parking operation of the hybrid vehicle is being performed. The electronic control unit is configured to control the engine and the rotary electric machine such that starting the engine when the parking operation of the hybrid vehicle is being performed is harder than starting the engine when the parking operation of the hybrid vehicle is not being performed.

A work machine includes an engine, a motor-generator, a battery, a power detector, a temperature detector, and circuitry. The engine is to move the work machine. The motor-generator is to move the work machine and to generate electric power. The battery is to store the electric power generated by the motor-generator. The power detector is to detect a charge level of the electric power stored in the battery. The temperature detector is to detect a temperature of the battery. The circuitry is configured to control the motor-generator in accordance with the charge level selectively to move the work machine or to generate electric power when the temperature of the battery detected by the temperature detector is within a temperature range.