A vehicle control device controls a vehicle including a drive motor connected to a rotation shaft of wheels, a battery that supplies electricity to the drive motor, and an internal combustion engine connected to the drive motor. The vehicle is equipped with, as traveling modes, a normal mode, and an eco-mode having a larger regenerative braking force than the normal mode obtained such that rotational energy of the wheels is converted into electrical energy. A controller stops the internal combustion engine and switches from the normal mode to the eco-mode when detecting at least an abnormality in the internal combustion engine during traveling of the vehicle.

The disclosure is directed at an apparatus and method for optimizing fuel efficiency of a hybrid vehicle. Driving session data keyed to a specific driver driving a specific route is collected and used to train an optimization algorithm, which is executed on the vehicle to operate a motor-generator so as to optimize the fuel efficiency of the vehicle. An example electric converter dolly is disclosed as a platform for implementing this technique as part of a tractor-trailer vehicle configuration, which may provide certain advantages over implementation on a standalone hybrid vehicle.

A system for recharging batteries of electric and hybrid vehicles by recovering and converting kinetic energy produced by rotational movement of wheels into electric current is provided. The system includes an electric current generator having a rotor integrated in an inner surface of a tire-carrying rim and a circular-shaped stator anchored to a fixed part of a wheel-carrying hub in a volume between a brake and the inner surface of the tire-carrying rim.

A vehicle control device including processor being configured to, when driving sections are present inside a restricted region, extract as a restricted driving section from among driving sections present inside the restricted region a driving section through which it is projected the vehicle will be driven in a restricted time period in which operation of internal combustion engines is restricted, and prepare a driving plan able to drive through the restricted driving section in the EV mode.

A system for controlling a failure of an environment-friendly vehicle is provided to which a highway driving pilot (HDP) system is applied. The system includes a vehicle control unit (VCU) controller that operates a driving motor, an integrated electric booster (IEB) controller that operates IEB for controlling a brake of the environment-friendly vehicle and generate a request to the VCU controller for regenerative braking, and an HDP controller that calculates a required deceleration of the environment-friendly vehicle based on the situation around the environment-friendly vehicle, determined through cognitive control sensors applied to the environment-friendly vehicle. The HDP controller transmits the required deceleration to the IEB controller. At least one of regenerative braking of the driving motor or braking through the brake is performed based on a type of a fault message output by the IEB controller or a failure in communication between the HDP controller and the IEB controller.

A velocity adjustment system for adjusting a driving velocity of a includes a driver control device configured to receive actuation input from a driver, the actuation input including an actuation parameter. The system further includes an actuation sensor configured to detect the actuation parameter and to output a sensor signal and a velocity control device configured to record the sensor signal and evaluate the actuation input. The velocity control device is designed to compare the actuation parameter with a reference value and to output, based on the comparison, a request signal to an engine control device or a braking request signal to brake control device of a brake system.

A method of operating a vehicle includes a vehicle controller receiving an operator-input vehicle control command with an associated torque request, and identifying any propulsion actuator constraints that limit a brake torque capacity available from the vehicle powertrain. Using the propulsion actuator constraint(s) and torque request, the controller determines a propulsion brake torque distribution for the vehicle's road wheels and a maximum brake torque capacity for the powertrain actuator(s). A first brake torque request is determined using the propulsion brake torque distribution and a vehicle control mode of the powertrain system, and a second brake torque request is determined using the maximum brake torque capacity and the vehicle control mode. A friction brake torque command is determined by arbitrating between the first and second brake torque requests. The vehicle controller transmits the friction brake torque command to the friction brake system and a powertrain brake command to the powertrain actuator(s).

Look-ahead deceleration assistance control includes: accelerator-off guidance control that is control to, when a target location related to deceleration of an electrically-powered vehicle is set, notify a driver of information prompting the driver to release an accelerator pedal; and regeneration increasing control that is control to, when the target location related to deceleration of the electrically-powered vehicle is set, increase a braking force generated by a motor generator as compared to when the target location is not set. The strong regeneration control is control to, when the strong regeneration mode is set by a switch operating unit, increase the braking force in a state where the accelerator pedal is released as compared to the normal mode. The control apparatus is configured to, when the strong regeneration mode is set by the switch operating unit, execute the strong regeneration control and not execute the look-ahead deceleration assistance control.

A method of controlling a generator for a vehicle includes calculating a current charging amount and a target charging amount of a battery, estimating regenerative energy of the battery based on predicted vehicle travel information, and determining whether a road section in which the vehicle travels is a regenerative braking section based on the predicted vehicle travel information and vehicle position information. The generator and the battery are controlled so the generator maximally charges the battery when the road section in which the vehicle travels is the regenerative braking section and so the energy of the battery and a charging amount of the battery is the target charging amount when the road section in which the vehicle travels is not the regenerative braking section.

A vehicle with one-pedal driving mode includes a first axle having a first electric machine configured to power first wheels and a second axle having a second electric machine configured to power second wheels. A controller is programmed to, in response to a request for one-pedal driving mode, map pedal positions of the accelerator pedal to speeds of the first and second wheels such that each of the pedal positions corresponds to a driver-demanded speed of the first and second wheels, and control one or more of the electric machine so that the vehicle is propelled according to the driver-demanded speed.