A vehicle includes motors each configured to drive a front wheel of the vehicle, an electronic limited slip differential (eLSD) between rear wheels of the vehicle, and a controller to, responsive to vehicle turning and a power of each of the motors being less than a maximum value, alter operation of the motors to increase a difference between the powers. Otherwise, the controller operates the eLSD to bias torque toward one of the rear wheels.

A drive force control system configured to reduce a total energy consumption of a hybrid vehicle. The drive force control system calculates: an output power of the engine which can optimize a thermal efficiency given that the engine is operated at a best fuel point; and a required electric power to be supplied from a battery or to be generated by a control motor, which can adjust the drive power established by the output power of the engine to the required power. A power exchange between the control motor and the battery is interrupted if the required electric power to be supplied from the electric storage device or to be generated by the control motor is less than a first predetermined electric power.

A hybrid electric vehicle comprises a set of wheels, a mechanical transmission adapted to provide torque to the set of wheels, an electric motor coupled to and providing motive force to the mechanical transmission, battery storage coupled to and supplying electrical power to the electric motor, and a gasoline compression ignition (GCI) engine coupled to at least one of the mechanical transmission and the electric motor so as to provide mechanical energy to the mechanical transmission and energy for operating the electric motor.

A method for the quality assurance of exhaust gas behavior in a motor vehicle, particularly in a hybrid vehicle, includes monitoring an on-board-diagnosis function; providing a journey counter a diagnosis counter, and a nominal diagnosis frequency value; incrementing the journey counter following the beginning of a driving cycle; generating an actual diagnosis frequency value using a combination of the diagnosis counter and the drive counter; and establishing a difference between the nominal diagnosis frequency value and the actual diagnosis frequency value. If the difference falls short of a threshold: a control method is selected, which is designed to successfully complete a currently running OBD of the OBD function and to initiate and complete a non-running OBD. Following the completion of the OBD of the OBD function, the diagnosis counter is incremented and the motor control restored to an original motor control.

A method for autonomously controlling electric power supplied to a thruster of a spacecraft during electric orbit raising includes determining a state of charge of a battery onboard the spacecraft at an entry into an eclipse during each orbit of a plurality of orbits during the electric orbit raising of the spacecraft. The method also includes determining an electric power level used to fire each thruster of a plurality of thrusters during each orbit beginning after the eclipse, based at least on the state of charge of the battery, and that will provide a shortest electric orbit raising duration and minimize thruster propellant usage during electric orbit raising.

A method for autonomously controlling electric power supplied to a thruster of a spacecraft during electric orbit raising includes determining a state of charge of a battery onboard the spacecraft at an entry into an eclipse during each orbit of a plurality of orbits during the electric orbit raising of the spacecraft. The method also includes determining an electric power level used to fire each thruster of a plurality of thrusters during each orbit beginning after the eclipse, based at least on the state of charge of the battery, and that will provide a shortest electric orbit raising duration and minimize thruster propellant usage during electric orbit raising.

The invention relates to a method for propelling a vehicle comprising a first power source being an internal combustion engine and a second power source comprising at least one electrical machine. The vehicle is configured to be selectively driven according to a first mode and a second mode, wherein said second mode is prioritized more in relation to fuel efficiency of said vehicle than said first mode. When a maximum power for propelling said vehicle is requested, power delivered by said first power source and said second power source is controlled such that the total power delivered by said first and said second power source exceeds the maximum deliverable power of said first power source. The total power delivered by said first and said second power source is allowed to exceed the maximum deliverable power of said first power source when said vehicle is driven according to said second mode.

Systems and methods changing between driveline operating modes of a hybrid vehicle are described. In one example, electrical output to electric power consumers is maintained during closing of a driveline disconnect clutch. Further, engine speed is controlled via a first electric machine to a speed of a second electric machine to provide smooth closing of a driveline disconnect clutch.

A control device for a hybrid vehicle, includes a travel route creation unit creating a travel route from a starting point to a destination through a stopping point by referring to map information; a parking time period estimation unit estimating a parking time period of the hybrid vehicle at the stopping point; a travel load prediction unit predicting a traveling load of the hybrid vehicle in each of sections obtained by dividing the travel route by referring to the map information; and a travel mode setting unit setting, for each of the sections, a traveling mode of an EV mode, in which the battery provides power for traveling as a main power supply, or an HV mode, in which the internal combustion engine provides the power for traveling as the main power supply, on the basis of the parking time period and the traveling load.

This application discusses various ways to adjust the performance of a variable input control in accordance with previous use data. In some embodiments, the previous use data can be associated with particular users of the variable input control. In this way, a response provided by the user input control can be adjusted to accommodate particular patterns of use on a user by user basis. In some embodiments, the variable input control can take the form of an accelerator pedal of a vehicle. Performance of the accelerator pedal can be adjusted by changing an amount of engine power provided for a particular accelerator pedal position. The adjustment can arrange commonly utilized power settings in the middle of the accelerator pedal range of motion to make manipulation of the accelerator pedal more comfortable and convenient for each user of the accelerator pedal.