An electric vehicle controls turning of the electric vehicle in accordance with the orientation of the wheels and skid steering to match the path and turning radius as indicated by the steering wheel. A processing circuit detects the position of the steering wheel and determines the direction of the turn and the resulting path and turning radius of the electric vehicle. The processing circuit either measures the orientation of the wheels or captures data regarding the turning radius of the electric vehicle. The processing circuit controls the traction motors of the electric vehicle so that the actual path and turning radius of the electric vehicle matches the path and turning radius indicated by the steering wheel. Further, the processing circuit may further control controls the traction motors to attempted to maintain the speed of the electric vehicle as indicated by the throttle.

A vehicle behavior control device for controlling a vehicle equipped with a steering apparatus comprises: a PCM operable to acquire a steering speed in the steering apparatus, and, when the steering speed becomes equal to or greater than a given threshold (T.sub.S1) which is greater than 0, to reduce a driving force for the vehicle according to the steering speed, wherein the steering apparatus comprises a steering shaft coupled to the steering wheel and rotatable together with the steering wheel, wherein the steering shaft has a torsion bar whose torsional rigidity about a rotational axis of the steering shaft is less than a remaining portion of the steering shaft. The steering speed acquisition section is configured to acquire the steering speed of the steering apparatus at a position on the side of the front road wheels with respect to the low rigidity portion.

A cruise control method for a hybrid vehicle is provided. The method includes detecting a preceding vehicle and estimating the speed of the preceding vehicle from the information input from a preceding vehicle detecting unit in the on state of a cruise mode and a PnG mode. An upper limit target vehicle speed and a lower limit target vehicle speed are determined from the estimated speed of the preceding vehicle. The driving source of the vehicle is operated to alternately repeat the acceleration (pulse phase) and deceleration (glide phase) of the vehicle between the determined upper limit target vehicle speed and lower limit target vehicle speed.

Hybrid or fully electric vehicle comprising: a conventional braking system based on friction bodies to brake the motor vehicle by interaction of the friction bodies in response to the operation of a brake pedal or any other equivalent control member, a reversible electric machine operatively coupled to the wheels of the vehicle and electronically controllable to operate selectively as an electric engine to generate a mechanical power to propel to the vehicle and as an electric generator to convert the kinetic energy of the motor vehicle into electrical energy, and an automotive electronic control system comprising a sensory system to measure automotive quantities, and an electronic control unit to control operation of the conventional braking system and of the electric machine in response to the operation of the brake pedal or any other operationally equivalent control member. The electronic control unit is further configured to control operation of: the electric machine to selectively perform one or more functions including regenerative braking, in which the electric machine is operated as an electric generator to recover the kinetic energy of the motor vehicle during braking and convert it into electrical energy, and the conventional braking system to clean the friction bodies of the conventional braking system based on the number of brakings performed by the conventional braking system and counted starting from the start-up of the motor vehicle.

A battery system including a removable battery pack, including a plurality of battery cells and an interface for electrically and mechanically coupling to a load bearing device; a vehicle, including a power station for providing power to drive the vehicle, the power station including a port for accepting the removable battery pack; and a power tool including a port for accepting the removable battery pack.

A method and system for controlling a stop rotation position of an engine is described. In one example, the system includes an integrated starter/generator that may be selectively coupled to the engine. The integrated starter/generator may rotate the engine in a first direction (e.g., reverse direction) or a second direction (e.g., a forward direction) in response to a position at which the engine stops rotating following cessation of combustion in the engine.

A hybrid power drive system, including a power battery device, a range extender system, and a motor drive system. The power battery device is configured to supply power to the motor drive system. The range extender system includes an engine and a generator. The generator is able to generate power under the driving of the engine to supply the power to the motor drive system and/or charge the power battery device. The hybrid power drive system further includes a vehicle control unit configured to control the engine and/or generator of the range extender system to generate a driving force. The range extender system is mechanically connected to a main coupling mechanism to transmit the generated driving force to a main drive axle of a vehicle by means of the main coupling mechanism to drive wheels on both sides of the axle to rotate. Also provided is a vehicle having the hybrid power drive system. According to the hybrid power drive system and the vehicle having same, the vehicle control unit is utilized to control the engine and/or generator of the range extender system to generate the driving force for different application operating conditions, and thus the economy of the vehicle can be effectively improved.

A method for populating a controller for a motor vehicle with data includes providing a controller with a storage device, and generating a projected mathematical model of at least one section of a powertrain, including a transmission. The projected mathematical model describes the section of the powertrain with a gear ratio of 1 and is applicable to different transmissions. The projected mathematical model is stored in the storage device of the controller. A motor vehicle is also provided and operated accordingly.

A control device executes caster angle change control for controlling a driving force applying device or each of the driving force applying device and a braking force applying device to reduce a caster angle of a steered tire-wheel assembly when a steering request is received in a stopped state or in a creeping state without exceeding a predetermined vehicle speed at a point starting from the stopped state. In the caster angle change control, the control device applies, to one tire-wheel assembly out of a front tire-wheel assembly and a rear tire-wheel assembly, a driving force in a direction toward the other tire-wheel assembly and applies, to the other tire-wheel assembly, a braking force or a driving force in a direction toward the one tire-wheel assembly to achieve the stopped state or the creeping state in response to a request for acceleration or deceleration.

A vehicle includes a powertrain having an electric machine and a controller. The controller is programmed to, responsive to an accelerator pedal position exceeding a first threshold for a predetermined time period or a lateral acceleration of the vehicle being greater than a second threshold, transition the powertrain from a nominal driving mode to a performance driving mode. The controller is also programmed to, responsive to an increase in a steering wheel angle while in the nominal mode, maintain a power output of the electric machine at a driver demanded power defined by the accelerator pedal position. The controller is further programmed to, responsive to an increase in a steering wheel angle while in the performance driving mode, reduce a power output of the electric machine to less than the driver demanded power.