Aspects of the present invention relate to a method (400) and to a control system (208) for controlling at least one electric machine (212, 216) of a vehicle (10) to support diagnostic testing of a vehicle system (30) comprising an internal combustion engine (202), wherein the method (400) comprises: controlling a torque output (420) of the at least one electric machine (212,216) to allow a vehicle drive torque demand (410) to be met while the internal combustion engine (202) is operated within at least one torque threshold (432) for the diagnostic testing or operated at a torque setpoint (438) for the diagnostic testing.

A control device for an automatic transmission includes: a failure diagnosis section for diagnosing whether or not a failure has occurred in a shift control system of the automatic transmission; a fail-safe control section for fixing the automatic transmission into a predetermined gear position in response to confirmation of the failure of the shift control system of the automatic transmission; and an oil temperature rise regulation torque reduction control section for outputting a torque reduction request to suppress torque of a vehicle driving source, based on temperature of transmission operating oil of the automatic transmission, and outputting the torque reduction request in response to satisfaction of an oil temperature condition that is set lower in oil temperature when the automatic transmission is fixed in a first gear position by the fail-safe control section than when the automatic transmission is not fixed in the first gear position.

A vehicle control apparatus includes: a plurality of operation devices, a plurality of reaction applying devices, a plurality of driving devices, and control device. The control device is capable of controlling the plurality of reaction applying devices and the plurality of driving devices. When the occupant operates preceding operation devices and subsequently operates subsequent operation devices different from the preceding operation devices, the control device causes a reactive perception quantity that is perceived by the occupant when the occupant starts operating the subsequent operation devices to substantially match a reactive perception quantity that is perceived by the occupant when the occupant finishes operating the preceding operation devices.

Provided is a method for propulsion of a vehicle, said vehicle comprising at least one power source for providing power to at least one drive wheel of said vehicle. The method includes, when said vehicle is to be driven along a first path: determining a torque profile for use in controlling said first power source when driving said vehicle along at least a first segment of said first path; determining said torque profile on the basis of an estimated representation of a demand for torque when driving said vehicle along said first segment; when determining said torque profile, reducing variations in torque delivered by said power source by allowing increased variations in speed of said vehicle; and when said vehicle is driven along said first segment of said first path, controlling torque delivered by said at least one power source according to said determined torque profile.

A method for controlling a powertrain system in response to a command to execute a multi-state shift event for the transmission includes determining an initial output torque limit and determining an initial commanded output torque based upon the initial output torque limit. The powertrain system is controlled to generate torque in response to the initial commanded output torque prior to completion of a first state transition of the multi-state shift event that includes a commanded torque reduction. After completion of the first state transition of the multi-state shift event that includes the commanded torque reduction, a torque ramp rate is determined, and the initial commanded output torque is adjusted based upon the torque ramp rate. The powertrain system is controlled to generate torque in response to the initial commanded output torque and the adjusted initial commanded output torque during a remainder of the multi-state shift event.

A driving system includes an engine an engine, a motor generator, a gear mechanism, and a controller. The gear mechanism couples the engine and the motor generator to each other. The gear mechanism includes first and second gears. The first and second gears are configured to be supplied with first driving torque from the engine and second driving torque from the motor generator, respectively. The second gear meshes with the first gear. The controller is configured to perform torque control of the engine to make a rate of variation in the first driving torque at the first gear at a time when the following conditional expression (1) is satisfied smaller than that at a time when the following conditional expression (1) is not satisfied.
|T2−T1|<Th1  (1) T1 is the first driving torque, T2 is the second driving torque, and Th1 is a first threshold.

A driving mode control method and apparatus of a hybrid electric vehicle are provided. The driving mode control method includes decreasing a torque of an engine when a first driving mode in which both the engine and a first motor are driven is switched to a second driving mode driven by the first motor and applying a torque of a second motor. A clutch is then opened when a difference between the engine torque and the second motor torque is less than a first threshold torque.

A vehicle propulsion system configured to generate wheel torque includes an engine arranged to output a first propulsion torque to a transmission and an electric motor arranged to output a second propulsion torque downstream of the transmission. The vehicle propulsion system also includes a controller programmed to, in response to detecting a lash crossing associated with one of the electric motor and the transmission, set a torque slew rate of the other one of the electric motor and transmission such that each of the electric motor and transmission undergoes lash crossings at different points in time.

A vehicle drive force control method according to the present invention includes calculating an estimated friction circle on the basis of longitudinal and lateral accelerations of a vehicle, limiting a drive force of the vehicle depending on a size of the estimated friction circle, and limiting a change rate of the size of the estimated friction circle during vehicle traveling on the basis of a tire generation force. The method further the change rate as the tire generation force increases.

A method for operating a motor vehicle having a four-wheel drive and a drive unit, which can be switched on and off during travel, wherein the motor vehicle is driven by a torque provided by the drive unit, and the initially disengaged four-wheel drive is switched on, including: determining at least one limit torque which, while the four-wheel drive is switched off, can be transmitted from at least one wheel of the motor vehicle driven by the drive unit to the ground surface upon which the motor vehicle is travelling, while the slip between the at least one wheel and the ground surface falls below a specifiable threshold value.