Patent ID: 9236825
Filing Date: 2016-01-12
CPC Classification: B60L,H02P,Y02T

Claim Text:
1. A vehicle control device for controlling a vehicle which comprises: a battery; a vehicle driving motor having at least a first winding and a second winding mutually connected in series, the motor being provided in such a manner that a coupled state with respect to drive wheels is always maintained; and an inverter provided between the battery and the motor and arranged to provide an electrical connection therebetween, the vehicle control device comprising: an inverter controller for controlling the inverter; a current conduction mode switcher for switching a current conduction mode of the motor between a low speed mode in which a current is conducted through at least the first winding and the second winding, and a high speed mode in which a current is conducted through only the first winding; a motor speed detector for detecting a rotation speed of the motor; a range detector for detecting a shift range selected by a driver; and a switching controller for, under a condition that the shift range detected by the range detector is a running range, controlling the current conduction mode switcher to switch the current conduction mode to the low speed mode when the rotation speed detected by the motor speed detector is less than a given threshold value, and controlling the current conduction mode switcher to switch the current conduction mode to the high speed mode when the rotation speed detected by the motor speed detector is equal to or greater than the given threshold value, wherein the inverter controller is operable, when a neutral range is detected by the range detector, to stop the control of the inverter; and the switching controller is operable, when the neutral range is detected by the range detector, to execute a regeneration suppression control to switch the current conduction mode to the high speed mode, not only in a higher-side speed range where the rotation speed of the motor is equal to or greater than the given threshold value, but also in at least a part of a lower-side speed range where the rotation speed of the motor is less than the given threshold value.