Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Ford Motor Company Limited

University of Michigan

Ryan Abraham McGee

Ming Lang Kuang

Xiaoyong Wang

Wei Liang

Hai Yu

Rajit Johri

Mark Steven Yamazaki

Fazal Urrahman Syed

Qing Wang

Johannes Geir Kristinsson

Ihab S Soliman

Mathew Alan Boesch

Jonathan Andrew Butcher

Fling Finn Tseng

Anthony Mark Phillips

John Czubay

Paul M Gartner

Jianbo Lu

Dimitar Petrov Filev

Carol Louise Okubo

Paul Martin Niessen

Jason Meyer

Daniel Scott Colvin

Joseph Gerald Supina

Chris D Kapolnek

Bernard D Nefcy

Shailesh Shrikant Kozarekar

Francis Thomas Connolly

Urs Christen

Matthew Allan Herrmann

Mukunda V Prema

Philip Joseph Wiethe

Jeffrey Randolph Holmes

Matthew Alan Boesch

Douglas Raymond Martin

Kenneth James Miller

Michiel Jacques Van Nieuwstadt

Kwaku O Prakah-Asante

Perry Robinson Macneille

Gary Steven Strumolo

Marvin Paul Kraska

Oleg Yurievitch Gusikhin

Walter Joseph Ortmann

Frederic Stefan

Eric Hongtei Tseng

Venkatapathi Raju Nallapa

Uwe Gussen

Shunsuke Okubo

Christopher Adam Ochocinski

Brandon R Masterson

Jeffrey Allen Greenberg

Rainer Busch

Christopher John Teslak

Christopher Alan Lear

Wei Wu

Venkateswa Anand Sankaran

Kenneth Frederick

Erica Klampfl

Robert Wright

Robert Taenaka

Joseph W Anthony

Payam Naghshtabrizi

Waheed Alashe

Joseph Youqing Xiang

J Anthony Lockwood

Stephen J Hunter

Kevin Davies

Wenduo Wang

Jungme Park

Yi Murphey

Chen Fang

Daniel Reich

Derek Taylor

A vehicle includes an engine, an electric machine, a battery, and at least one controller. The vehicle may further comprise a port for supplying power to a load external to the vehicle. The controller is programmed to operate the engine at a power level based on a difference between a battery voltage and a reference voltage such that a power output by the electric machine reduces the difference. The power level may define an engine operating point that minimizes fuel consumption. The operating point may be an engine torque and an engine speed. The power level may be further based on a state of charge of the battery. The electric machine may be operated to cause the engine to rotate at an engine speed corresponding to the selected power level. The difference may be caused by varying power drawn by a load external to the vehicle.

Hybrid-electric vehicle plug-out mode energy management

An example method of crowd-sourcing energy consumption data for vehicles includes controlling a vehicle in response to a predicted energy consumption that is continually updated based on a difference between a previous predicted energy consumption and a previous actual base energy consumption. Another example method of routing a vehicle includes changing a route for a vehicle in response to a predicted energy consumption for the vehicle when travelling the route, the predicted energy consumption based on a difference between a previous predicted energy consumption and a previous actual base energy consumption.

Crowd sourcing to predict vehicle energy consumption

A stop/start vehicle includes at least one controller that, in response to predicting a vehicle stop, initiates an engine pre-shutdown protocol such that vehicle subsystems begin to prepare for engine shutdown prior to a speed of the vehicle reaching approximately zero to reduce time between the speed of the vehicle reaching approximately zero and engine shutdown.

Initiating preparations for engine autostop prior to vehicle stop

A stability control system for a vehicle that has an electric traction motor that provides torque to an axle through a differential. The traction motor responds to an instability event that is sensed by sensors on the vehicle by initially reducing the torque provided to the traction wheels to regain steering control. The traction motor then pulses increased torque in sequence with the application of braking force to provide enhanced direct yaw moment control.

Electronic stability control system for electric drive vehicle

A method of operating a vehicle having a continuously variable transmission to simulate a step-ratio transmission. The method includes increasing an output torque based on a modified accelerator pedal position in response to a corresponding virtual gear selection. An initial virtual gear is determined or selected from a predetermined finite number of available virtual gears based on an accelerator pedal position, a vehicle speed, and whether an upshift or downshift has been requested. The engine speed and engine torque are controlled to meet driver expectations of increased or decreased engine speed or vehicle output torque.

Selective shift transmission initial gear determination

A vehicle includes an engine having a crankshaft, a transmission having an input, and a torque converter mechanically coupled to the input. The vehicle further includes an electric machine mechanically coupled to the torque converter, a clutch configured to mechanically couple the electric machine and crankshaft, and one or more controllers. The one or more controllers are programmed to, in response to the transmission being in a drive or reverse gear and a speed of the vehicle being less than a predetermined value in an absence of driver demand, control the electric machine to achieve a target speed to cause the torque converter to output torque such that the speed of the vehicle approaches a generally constant speed less than or equal to the predetermined value when the vehicle is on a generally flat grade.

Hybrid vehicle idle and creep control

A hybrid electric vehicle having a motor and an engine that are selectively connected on a driveline and controlled by a controller. The controller is configured to schedule additional motor torque to compensate for engine inertia drag based upon a clutch pressure value and a clutch slip speed value during a period of clutch engagement. The controller is also configured to maintain vehicle acceleration using a proportional integral controller to adjust the motor torque during a period of clutch engagement.

Feed forward and feedback adjustment of motor torque during clutch engagement

A method and a system augment or improve a distance until charge (DUC) estimation for a vehicle such as a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) by using location information. Such location information may be provided by a global positioning system (GPS) or the like associated with the vehicle. The method and the system generally estimate the DUC value as a function of past driving pattern historical data that is relevant to a current driving situation. To this end, the method and the system ignore past driving pattern historical data that is not relevant to the current driving situation when estimating the DUC value.

Location enhanced distance until charge (DUC) estimation for a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV)

A method for restarting an engine of a vehicle stopped on a grade, comprising the steps of engaging a gear of a transmission through which the engine and wheels of the vehicle are drivably connected mutually, using brake pressure to engage wheel brakes and produce a road gradient wheel torque that holds the vehicle stationary on the grade, initiating an engine restart, operating the engine to produce wheel torque equal to or greater than the road gradient wheel torque, and releasing the brake pressure.

Brake assisted vehicle engine restart on a road grade

Systems and methods for operating and hybrid driveline are presented. In one example, driver demand torque may be supplied to vehicle wheels via a hydraulic torque path and a friction torque path. Torque is distributed between the friction torque path and the hydraulic torque path in a way that ensures that driver demand torque is met and the friction torque path transfers torque up to its capacity.

Methods and systems for hybrid driveline control

A hybrid electric vehicle includes an engine and an electric machine, both capable of providing torque to transmission gearing. A clutch is disposed between the engine and the electric machine and is configured to selectively couple the engine to the electric machine. At times in which control of the amount of engine torque transmitted to the gearing is desirable, a controller is programmed to slip the clutch. If the controller is able to determine the amount of torque transmitted through the slipping clutch, the controller alters an output of the electric machine based upon the torque through the clutch. If, however, the controller is unable to determine the amount of torque transmitted through the slipping clutch, the controller alters the output of the electric machine based upon an acceleration of the electric machine.

Controlling powertrain torque in a hybrid vehicle

A hybrid electric vehicle includes an engine and an electric machine, both capable of providing propulsion power. A clutch is configured to selectively couple the engine to the electric machine. At times, the vehicle may be subject to excessive loads, such as a large amount of weight in the vehicle or the vehicle towing another object. At least one controller is programmed to engage the clutch and start the engine in response to a load of the vehicle exceeding a predetermined threshold and a release of the brake pedal while the vehicle is stopped and in drive. This increases available engine torque prior to vehicle launch in anticipation of an upcoming acceleration demand.

Load-based vehicle operating control

A vehicle includes a starter motor, an engine having an output mechanically coupled to the starter motor, a transmission having an input, and an electric machine mechanically coupled to the transmission input. The vehicle further includes a clutch configured to mechanically couple the electric machine and the output of the engine, and at least one controller. The at least one controller is programmed to initiate an engine start based on driver demand. The controller is further configured to enable pressure to the clutch for the engine start if driver demand is less than a calibratable torque value or enable the starter motor for the engine start if the driver demand is greater than a calibratable torque value. The controller may lock the clutch to the output of the engine in response to the speed of the engine being approximately equal to the speed of the electric machine.

Hybrid vehicle engine starts

A plugin hybrid electric vehicle includes an internal combustion engine, a battery, an electric machine, and a controller. The vehicle is operable in a primary electric vehicle driving mode (EV mode) and in a hybrid electric vehicle driving mode (HEV mode). The controller is programmed to receive input from the driver representing a desired operating mode and a desired energy reservation. If the desired operating mode is HEV mode, then a state of charge (SOC) offset is established as the smaller of a maximum SOC offset and an allowable SOC offset, otherwise, the SOC offset is established based on the desired energy reservation. The vehicle is operated based on the SOC offset.

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle battery state of charge hold function and energy management

Growing community of inventors

Ann Arbor, MI, United States of America

Ryan Abraham McGee