A hybrid vehicle including a front motor for driving front wheels, a rear motor for driving rear wheels, and a step-up converter for stepping-up the voltage from a battery and supplying power to the front motor, in which an engine is started to shift the vehicle from an EV mode into a series mode when the output power of the step-up converter is lower than the required power of the front motor, the hybrid vehicle includes a hybrid control unit which computes maximum output power of the step-up converter and, when the output power of the step-up converter is more than the maximum output power, increases the distribution ratio of the travel driving torque of the rear wheel, thereby increasing the output torque of the rear motor.

A vehicle powertrain includes an IGBT that conducts current between a supply and load. The vehicle powertrain also includes a controller that applies voltage to a gate of the IGBT at a first level for a first duration that depends on a capacitance of the gate, and increases the voltage over a second duration based on a rate of change of the current falling below a threshold defined by a supply voltage for the load.

A vehicle powertrain includes a bypass diode and a controller. The bypass diode is configured to clamp an inverter DC terminal voltage to a battery voltage. The controller is configured to, while the terminal voltage is within a predetermined range of the battery voltage, maintain off a lower IGBT of a DC-DC converter while in a propulsion mode, and modulate the lower IGBT to increase the terminal voltage to maintain the bypass diode reverse biased while in a regenerative mode.

The application describes a self-propelling work machine, in the form of a truck, having an electric drive comprising at least one electric motor, a generator drivable by an internal combustion engine for the power supply of the electric drive, and a braking apparatus for braking the work machine, wherein the braking apparatus provides a regenerative braking by the electric drive and a feedback apparatus for feeding back electrical motor braking power of the electric motor to the generator to apply the motor braking power on the internal combustion engine. The application further describes a method for braking the work machine. A braking control apparatus is provided for an automatic connection of a mechanical brake in dependence on the motor braking power fed back to the internal combustion engine and/or in dependence on the operating state of the internal combustion engine acted on by the fed back motor braking power.

A charging control unit is used in a system having an engine, an electric power generator, and a battery charged by electric power generated by the electric power generator and being capable of executing stop control for prohibiting the engine from restarting in a state where the engine is stopped. The charging control device is provided with a charging and discharging rate calculation unit calculating a charging and discharging rate, the charging and discharging rate being the ratio of the absolute value of a charging current integrated value of the battery to the absolute value of a discharging current integrated value of the battery following the full charging of the battery, a pre-charging execution unit allowing the execution of the stop control, charging the battery by the electric power generated by the electric power generator, and executing pre-charging for increasing the average remaining capacity of the battery, the pre-charging execution unit shortening a period during which the pre-charging is executed when the calculated charging and discharging rate is high, and a refresh charging execution unit executing refresh charging for charging the battery by the electric power generated by the electric power generator, without executing the stop control, after the execution of the pre-charging and allowing the battery to be fully charged.

A system for electrically coupling a first structure with a second structure in a vehicle is disclosed, and includes a control module receiving at least one of electrical power and data, a cable, and a reel. The cable has a variable length and is electrically coupled to the control module. The cable transmits at least one of electrical power and data from the first structure to the second structure. The reel is located at the first structure and defines an axis of rotation. The cable is windable around the reel, and the reel is rotatable about the axis of rotation to adjust the variable length of the cable. The variable length of the cable is a portion of the cable that extends between the first structure to the second structure that is not wound around the reel.

A power generation and starting device for a utility vehicle having a battery source capable of storing electrical energy, a logic/driver module operably coupled to the battery source and capable of outputting power to a drive system of the utility vehicle, an internal combustion engine capable of outputting a mechanical driving force, and a generator system operably coupled to the internal combustion engine and electrically coupled to the logic/driver module. The generator system is capable of operating as a generator in response to the mechanical driving force of the internal combustion engine, thereby outputting electrical energy to the logic/driver module. The generator is further capable of operating as an electric motor in response to input of electrical energy from the logic/driver module to drive the internal combustion engine during startup of the internal combustion engine.

In one embodiment, a permanent magnet has a composition expressed by a composition formula: RN.sub.x(Cr.sub.pSi.sub.qM.sub.1-p-q).sub.z (R is at least one element selected from Y and rare-earth elements, M is at least one element selected from Fe and Co, and x, p, q, and z are atomic ratios satisfying 0.5≦x≦2.0, 0.005≦p≦0.2, 0.005≦q≦0.2, and 4≦z≦13, respectively). The permanent magnet has a density of 6.5 g/cm.sup.3 or more and satisfies the relationship of I(110)/{I(110)+I(303)}≦0.05, in which I(303) represents a diffraction peak intensity from a (303) plane of a Th.sub.2Zn.sub.17 phase obtained through powder X-ray diffraction of the permanent magnet, and I(110) represents a diffraction peak intensity from a (110) plane of an α-Fe phase obtained through the powder X-ray diffraction.

An electrical system for use with an AC power supply having multiple phase voltages, e.g., three phase voltages, may include a high-voltage battery pack or other high-voltage DC device, a 12 VDC battery or other auxiliary-voltage DC device providing auxiliary power to the electrical system, multiple AC-DC converters, and a controller. The AC-DC converters each provide a DC output voltage to the high-voltage DC device, and are operable for converting a respective one of the phase voltages from the AC power supply into the DC output voltage. The controller selectively disables the AC-DC converters in response to a detected predetermined operating condition to thereby reduce consumption of the auxiliary power within the electrical system. A vehicle may include a high-voltage DC battery pack, an auxiliary-voltage DC battery providing auxiliary power, an onboard charging module, a charging port, an auxiliary power module, an electric machine, and a controller.

A utility vehicle includes an electric motor for driving a propelling device, a battery for supplying electric power to the electric motor, a temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of the battery, a discharge current setting unit for setting an upper limit discharge current value based on the detected temperature detected by the temperature sensor, and a control unit for regulating discharge current of the battery within the upper limit discharge current value determined by the discharge current setting unit and for controlling driving of the electric motor.