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.

A vehicle power distribution control method, apparatus and system are provided. The method includes: acquiring an image of a road surface on which a vehicle drives currently, and recognizing, according to the image of the road surface, the type of the road surface on which the vehicle drives currently; starting a corresponding terrain mode in an all-terrain adaptive mode according to the current type of the road surface; determining a power distribution strategy corresponding to the current terrain mode according to a correspondence between terrain modes and preset power distribution strategies; and switching a center differential of the vehicle to a corresponding locking mode according to the current power distribution strategy, and distributing, in the locking mode, torques to front and rear axles of the vehicle according to a torque distribution curve corresponding to the current power distribution strategy. The front and rear axles of a four-wheel drive vehicle can be conveniently provided with adequate torques on different road surfaces.

A tight turn wheel locking system may include a steering end stop sensor to output signals indicating that steered front wheels of a vehicle are in an end stop state towards a short turn side, an end stop steering wheel input sensor to output signals indicating end stop operator input to the steering wheel while the steered front wheels are in the end stop state, and a controller configured to automatically enter a tight turn mode in response to the end stop operator input satisfying a predetermined threshold. The controller, in the tight turn mode, outputs tight turn control signals that cause a vehicle braking system of the vehicle to lock a rear wheel of the vehicle corresponding to the short turn side.

A drive switching mechanism of a utility vehicle includes: a two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive switching device that switches between two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive of the utility vehicle; and a control unit that controls the drive switching mechanism. The two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive switching device switches between two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive by using a first clutch. The control unit permits the two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive switching device to switch from two-wheel drive to four-wheel drive when a rotation difference of the first clutch becomes equal to or smaller than a predetermined value.

A vehicle includes a power source configured to provide drive torque, a front axle, a rear axle, and a transfer case configured to distribute drive torque from the power source between the front axle and the rear axle. The vehicle additionally includes a clutch arranged between the front axle and the transfer case. The clutch has a disengaged state and an engaged state drivingly coupling the transfer case and the front axle. The vehicle also includes a regenerative braking system configured to, in response to a braking request, provide regenerative braking torque to the rear axle. The vehicle further includes a controller. The controller is configured to, in response to a braking request and the clutch being in the disengaged state, control the clutch to shift into the engaged state to couple the regenerative braking system to the front axle and provide regenerative braking torque to the front axle.

A method for classifying an underlying surface travelled by an agricultural utility vehicle includes acquiring a detail of a surface of the underlying surface in the form of optical data, classifying the optical data in a data processing unit with respect to different underlying surface classes, and determining an underlying surface class on the basis of the classifying step. Output data is output from the data processing unit representative of the determined underlying surface class as a classification result. A technical feature of the utility vehicle is adapted as a function of the classification result.

A vehicle includes an engine, an accelerator pedal, and a controller. The controller is programmed to command torque to the engine based on a set speed of adaptive cruise control and is programmed to, in response to the adaptive cruise control being active, a measured lateral acceleration of the vehicle exceeding a user-defined lateral acceleration threshold during a road curve, and the accelerator pedal being released, reduce a speed of the vehicle below the set speed until the measured lateral acceleration is less than the lateral acceleration threshold.

A vehicle includes an engine, an accelerator pedal, and a controller. The controller is programmed to command torque to the engine based on a set speed of adaptive cruise control and is programmed to, in response to the adaptive cruise control being active, a measured lateral acceleration of the vehicle exceeding a user-defined lateral acceleration threshold during a road curve, and the accelerator pedal being released, reduce a speed of the vehicle below the set speed until the measured lateral acceleration is less than the lateral acceleration threshold.

A control apparatus for a motive power transmission device equipped with a first input shaft, a second input shaft to which a motive power from a motor is input, a rear wheel-side output shaft from which a motive power is output to a first driving wheel, a front wheel-side output shaft from which a motive power is output to a second driving wheel, and a planetary gear device that has, as three rotating elements, a sun gear to which the second input shaft is coupled, a carrier to which the front wheel-side output shaft is coupled, and a ring gear to which the first input shaft and the rear wheel-side output shaft are coupled engages an engagement device when a torque of the rear wheel-side output shaft is equal to or smaller than a threshold with the motor outputting the motive power.

A vehicle includes an engine, an accelerator pedal, and a controller. The controller is programmed to command torque to the engine based on a set speed of adaptive cruise control and is programmed to, in response to the adaptive cruise control being active, a measured lateral acceleration of the vehicle exceeding a user-defined lateral acceleration threshold during a road curve, and the accelerator pedal being released, reduce a speed of the vehicle below the set speed until the measured lateral acceleration is less than the lateral acceleration threshold.