A converter is capable of using two power sources located on a first side by switching connection of the two power sources between series connection and parallel connection. Under certain conditions, such as when a detected atmospheric pressure is lower than a predetermined value, frequency of use of the two power sources in series connection is reduced in the converter. It is thereby possible to prevent generation of excessive voltage by the power converter.

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.

An aircraft includes an electric power source having a combustion engine and an electric generator. The electric generator is powered by the combustion engine. The aircraft also includes a propulsion assembly including a propulsor and an electric motor, the electric motor configured for rotating the propulsor. The aircraft also includes an electrical outlet configured for connection with an outside power sink. The electrical outlet and the propulsion assembly are selectively in electrical communication with the electric power source such that the electric power source selectively provides electrical power to one of the electrical outlet or the propulsion assembly.

A vehicle for a controller includes an electronic control unit which includes an alternator that can generate electric power using rotation of an engine and a first battery and a second battery that can be charged by the alternator. The first battery is connected in parallel to the alternator and the second battery is connected in parallel to the alternator and the first battery via a second switch. The electronic control unit is configured not to charge the second battery with regenerative power generated by the alternator by switching the second switch to an OFF state when the temperature of the alternator is higher than a first predetermined value.

A series-hybrid powertrain includes a range extender, a battery, an electric motor and a controller. The range extender may include an internal combustion engine and a generator. The powertrain has three modes of operation. In electric only mode, the battery powers the motor and the range extender is not allowed to operate. In forced charge mode, the range extender attempts to power the drive motor and also re-charge the battery if the battery is discharged to, or is found below, a specified charge. In hybrid mode, the range extender is operated by a controller that determines the output of the range extender in hybrid mode considering inputs that relate to the state of charge of the battery and the power consumption of the electric motor. Optionally, the controller uses fuzzy logic to determine the output of the range extender. The powertrain may be used in an industrial vehicle.

A control device of construction machine that performs tasks by driving a hydraulic pump by means of an electric motor that is driven by electric power of a battery device that is capable to charge and discharge and an engine that is mechanically coupled to the electric motor, includes: a charging/discharging control unit that controls the charging/discharging of the battery device in such a manner that, in case that a heavy load task where an output of the hydraulic pump is large and a light load task where the output of the hydraulic pump is small are alternately performed, when the output of the hydraulic pump during the heavy load task is increased or a time proportion of the heavy load task in the unit period is increased, an average value of charging current of the battery device per the unit period increases, and when the output of the hydraulic pump during the heavy load task is further increased or the time proportion of the heavy load task in the unit period is further increased, then the average value of the charging current of the battery device per the unit period decreases.

An ECU (Electronic Control Unit) controls a converter such that the converter is stopped when a fail signal FCV is output. The ECU further controls an inverter such that power operation and regenerative operation by a motor generator are performed in a state in which output of an ON signal to an IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) element is set non-executable, when the fail signal FCV is output due to the IGBT element becoming short-circuited.

A second power conversion device converts electric power supplied from a power source connected to an input side of the second power conversion device, to supply the converted electric power to a first power storage device. A first contactor is closed, such that a smoothing capacitor is charged with electric power stored in the first power storage device. A controller controls a first power conversion device to cause the first power conversion device to perform power conversion of electric power stored in the smoothing capacitor and to supply the converted electric power to a power generator.

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.

A DC link capacitor coupled to positive and negative DC busses between a high voltage DC source and an electric vehicle inverter is quickly discharged during a shutdown. An active discharge circuit connected across the link capacitor has a discharge resistor in series with a discharge switch. The discharge switch has a control terminal for selectably turning the discharge switch on and off. A disable circuit is coupled to the control terminal and is responsive to a disable command signal to turn off the discharge switch. The disable circuit turns on the discharge switch upon cessation of the disable command signal. A timing circuit powered by a voltage from the link capacitor initiates a predetermined time interval upon cessation of the disable command signal, and continuously turns off the discharge switch after the predetermined time interval while the voltage from the link capacitor remains above a threshold.