Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Masachika Kimura

Yutaka Ishikawa

Takashi Horiguchi

Kazuhiko Kitano

Yasuhiro Ijichi

A hybrid vehicle comprises an engine, a motor generator, a torque converterwith a lock-up clutch, and a ratio-change mechanism. A control system for the hybrid vehicle comprises a rotational sensor, which detects the slip ratio of the torque converter, and a hydraulic control valve, which controls the engagement of the lock-up clutch. While the vehicle is moving along with the accelerator pedal being released from its stepped down condition, a driving force from the wheels is transmitted to the motor generatorfor energy regeneration. If the slip ratio of the torque converter is equal to or smaller than a first threshold value, then only the lock-up clutch is controlled into engagement. However, if the slip ratio is between the first threshold value and a second threshold value, then additionally the motor generator is controlled in cooperative operation.

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Saitama, Japan

Masachika Kimura