Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Jiro Eto

Yasutomo Kawabata

Akihiko Kanamori

A method of controlling a power output apparatus including an engine, a drive shaft, first and second electric motors and a coupling device is provided. When a hybrid vehicle starts from rest, ECU operates to run the vehicle in EV mode only by means of one of the electric motors. When the operating point of the drive shaft passes a boundary that separates the underdrive region from the overdrive region, and enters the overdrive region, fuel supply to the engine is started so as to start the engine, and the coupling device is controlled so that coupling of the rotary shaft of the second electric motor is switched from the first coupling state in which the rotary shaft is coupled with the drive shaft to the second coupling state in which the rotary shaft is coupled with the output shaft of the engine. After switching, the ECU operates to run the vehicle in HV mode, utilizing the engine and the first and second electric motors.

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Toyota, Japan

Jiro Eto