Vehicle designers are largely walking away from internal-combustion engines to battery and electric motors. Until infrastructure is developed to support total electrification, hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs) which include both an internal combustion engine and an electric machine are a step toward electrification and higher system fuel efficiency while retaining the expected vehicle range. To obtain even higher system fuel efficiency combustion modes that provide higher efficiency than spark-ignition (SI) operation can be used in HEVs. A problem with such combustion modes is that they cannot be used over as wide an operating range as SI operation and transitions among modes is slow and cumbersome. By having the ICE installed into a HEV be a multi-combustion mode engine and having the EM to coordinate mode switches to be smooth, the high fuel-efficiency of alternative combustion modes can be exploited while providing smooth operation expected by vehicle users.

Aspects of the present invention relate to a control system and method for controlling a state of charge of energy storage means of a hybrid electric vehicle, the control system comprising one or more electronic controllers, the one or more electronic controllers configured to: receive destination data; determine a route to be travelled by the vehicle, the route comprising one or more characteristics, in dependence on the received destination data; and control the state of charge of the energy storage means in dependence on the route to allow the vehicle to travel an end portion of the route in an electric-only mode.

A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle capable of achieving a charging target in response to environmental change via a charging control method. The charging control method includes: setting reserved charging using external power based on a departure time and a target state of charge (SOC) of a battery; monitoring whether change in charging environment has occurred, determining whether the target SOC of the battery is capable of being achieved at a currently set departure time, when the charging environment has been changed; and performing series charging using an engine and a motor upon determining that the target SOC of the battery is incapable of being achieved.

A vehicle driving apparatus including a first oil pump driven by an internal combustion engine; a second oil pump connected to a torque transmission portion transmitting a driving force of the second motor generator to a drive wheel; a hydraulic circuit configured so that a lubricating oil is supplied from the second oil pump to a lubrication portion in a first mode in which a vehicle travels while stopping the internal combustion engine, and the lubricating oil is supplied from the first and second oil pumps to the lubrication portion in a second mode in which the vehicle travels while driving the internal combustion engine; a slip detector detecting a slip state of the drive wheel, and a control unit switching to the second mode when the slip state is detected during the first mode.

A control device of a vehicle includes a discharge control unit. The discharge control unit, in a case where a plurality of regenerative sections are included in a scheduled traveling route, extracts a first regenerative section on a vehicle side, a second regenerative section closest to the first regenerative section, and a dischargeable section between the first regenerative section and the second regenerative section. The discharge control unit, in a case where a predicted regenerative electric power amount in the first regenerative section is greater than a predicted discharge electric power amount in the dischargeable section, sets a section obtained by merging the first regenerative section, the second regenerative section, and the dischargeable section as a control target section, and performs the discharge control based on a remaining capacity of a power storage device and a predicted regenerative electric power amount in the control target section.

A method for operating a drive system of a hybrid vehicle is provided, which comprises reserving, by a controller of the drive system of the hybrid vehicle, electrical energy stored in a traction battery of the drive system and intended for an electrical heating of a catalyst of the drive system. A controller for a drive system of a hybrid vehicle to carry out such a method is also provided.

Vehicles may be composed of a relatively few number of “modules” that are assembled together during a final assembly process. An example vehicle may include a body module, a first drive module coupled to a first end of the body module, and a second drive module coupled to a second end of the body module. One or both of the drive modules may include a pair of wheels, a battery, an electric drive motor, and/or a heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system. One or both of the drive modules may also include a crash structure to absorb impacts. If a component of a drive module fails or is damaged, the drive module can be quickly and easily replaced with a new drive module, minimizing vehicle down time.

The state of charge of a traction battery of a hybrid vehicle power train is managed by, during a phase of running of the vehicle to a current destination, predicting a temperature that a battery will reach, after the power train is switched off, at a time of departure to a future destination; estimating, as a function of the battery temperature previously predicted, a minimum state of charge of the battery making it possible to provide, during a phase of running to the future destination, a predefined minimum power level; and maintaining the state of charge of the battery close to the minimum state of charge.

A control device is configured to set a target state of charge of a battery and control an internal combustion engine and rotating electrical machine and the charging and discharging of the battery to make the hybrid vehicle run so that the battery state of charge becomes the target state of charge. The control device is further configured to set the target state of charge based on a remaining distance or required time from a current position up to a restricted zone in which operation of the internal combustion engine is restricted and a grace period from a current time to a time at which the restriction of operation of the internal combustion engine in the restricted zone is started.

Systems, apparatuses, and methods are disclosed that include: determining, by a controller, an estimated propulsion power for a vehicle at a future location of a route at a future time based on at least one of internal information regarding the vehicle, external static information regarding the route of the vehicle, or external dynamic information regarding one or more upcoming potential conditions along the route of the vehicle; determining, by the controller, a current state of charge of a battery; determining, by the controller, a desired state of charge of the battery at the future location without substantially changing an output power of an engine of the vehicle; and facilitating, by the controller, charging of the battery of the vehicle to achieve the desired state of charge of the battery at the future location without substantially changing the output power of the engine of the vehicle.