A four-wheel drive electric vehicle control device is provided for a four-wheel drive electric vehicle that has a motor/generator as a drive source, and an electronically controlled coupling provided on the drive power transmission path leading from the drive source to the front and rear wheels. The four-wheel drive hybrid vehicle has a 4WD control unit that outputs to the electronically controlled coupling a transmission torque command value to bring about the four-wheel drive state, in accordance with the vehicle state. The 4WD control unit has a regenerative control intervention-coordinating controller that, when regenerative control by the motor/generator has intervened during the four-wheel drive state, brings the transmission torque of the electronically controlled coupling to zero before initiating regenerative control.

An all-wheel drive vehicle driveline that includes a housing assembly with a housing structure and a cover. In one form, components of the driveline can be assembled to the housing structure and cover in such a way that an intermediate shaft, which is assembled to the cover, and an input shaft, which can be rotatably mounted to the housing structure, can be slidably engaged to one another. In another form, the cover defines a reservoir that is configured to feed fluid to a pump that is mounted to the cover.

A multimode clutch may be adapted for selectively connecting and disconnecting front and/or rear axles from respective internal combustion engine and electric motor powertrains connected to such front and rear driving axles in a through-the-road hybrid vehicle. For example, the engine may be part of a front axle driven powertrain connected to the front wheels, while the motor may be part of a separate rear axle driven powertrain connected to the rear wheels, or vice versa. By selective disconnection of an axle not being actively driven, a real time reduction in parasitic losses may be achieved, leading to higher overall operating efficiencies. The multimode clutch offers greater flexibility over the use of standard friction clutches; each multimode clutch may provide four distinct operational modes for accommodating a wide diversity of driving conditions. For example, bi-rotational freewheeling of the rear axle may occur whenever the motor is not in use.

A power transmission device of a four-wheel drive electrically driven vehicle comprises a transverse engine that is supported on one right side surface of two side surfaces of the gear case, and a motor that is supported on the other left side surface of the two side surfaces of the gear case. The power transmission device includes a transfer case that is supported by a gear case and the distributes power from a power source between the left and right front wheels and the left and right rear wheels. The transfer case wraps around from the side surface to a rear surface of the gear case, as seen from above, and outputs power to the left and right rear wheels from the rear surface side of the gear case.

Drive device for a motor vehicle, includes a differential for distributing a torque that can be supplied via a drive shaft to two output shafts and a superimposition gear coupled with the differential one of the output shafts and an additional motor for superimposing torques supplied from the output shaft, from the differential and from the additional motor, wherein the differential is coupled via a torque reducing transmission ratio device with the superimposition gear, wherein the superimposition gear includes a switching device that can be controlled with a control device, wherein the superimposition gear superimposes in a first switching mode torques supplied to the switching device from the output shaft.

Methods and systems for a vehicle transmission are provided. In one example, a vehicle transmission system is provided that includes a first planetary gear set rotationally coupled to a second planetary gear set, a first electrical machine rotationally coupled to a sun gear in the first planetary gear set, and a second electrical machine rotationally coupled to a sun gear in the second planetary gear set. The transmission system also includes an inter-axle differential including a third planetary gear set rotationally coupled to a first axle and a second axle and selectively rotationally coupled to the first planetary gear set and the second planetary gear set, wherein the inter-axle differential is configured to selectively enable and disable speed differentiation between the first and the second axles.

A control apparatus for a hybrid electric vehicle includes: an engine control portion for controlling an operation state of an engine; and a driving-mode control portion for controlling the vehicle so as to realize selected at least one of driving modes. The driving modes include a low-gear all-wheel driving mode and a high-gear all-wheel driving mode. In a case in which the low-gear all-wheel driving mode is selected in the high-gear all-wheel driving mode when the engine is in a stopped state with a vehicle power transmission apparatus being in a non-driving position that disables transmission of a drive power, the engine control portion maintains the stopped state of the engine until completion of switching from the high-gear all-wheel driving mode to the low-gear all-wheel driving mode, and starts the engine after the completion of the switching from the high-gear all-wheel driving mode to the low-gear all-wheel driving mode.

Methods and system are described for changing a driveline gear range from a higher gear range to a lower gear range. The driveline may include two electric machines and four clutches in a four wheel drive configuration. The methods and systems permit a driveline to change from a higher gear range to a lower gear range without stopping a vehicle.

A method is provided for operating a drive train comprising an internal combustion engine or an electric machine as a primary drive and an electric machine as a secondary drive, wherein the electric machine is detachably coupled, together with an inverter and controller, on one of the vehicle axles. The electric machine and at least one switchable element is actuated in order to minimize drag losses of the electric machine and to provide a defined connection time for the electric machine. The electric machine is stationary and decoupled during a first speed range. The electric machine is actuated at a preset speed during a second speed range, where a defined connection time is not possible if the electric machine were stationary. The electric machine is coupled to the axle and rotates at the vehicle speed in the third range, when losses while coupled are lower than if uncoupled.

A vehicle controlling apparatus includes first and second slip determining units, first and second slip controllers, and a target torque corrector. The first slip controller is configured to maintain a slip rate of a first drive wheel at a predetermined slip rate, in a case where an execution condition of a first slip control is determined by the first slip determining unit as being satisfied. The second slip controller is configured to maintain a slip rate of a second drive wheel at a predetermined slip rate, in a case where an execution condition of a second slip control is determined by the second slip determining unit as being satisfied. The target torque corrector is configured to decrease a target torque of a second motor, in a case where the execution condition of the first slip control is satisfied and where the execution condition of the second slip control is unsatisfied.