Patent ID: 9651120
Date: 2017-05-16
CPC Classifications: B60K,F16H,Y02T,Y10S

Claim:
1. A drive system for a vehicle, comprising: a first gear set including a first sun gear, a first ring gear, a first plurality of planetary gears coupling the first sun gear to the first ring gear, and a first carrier rotationally supporting the first plurality of planetary gears; a second gear set including a second sun gear, a second ring gear, a second plurality of planetary gears coupling the second sun gear to the second ring gear, and a second carrier rotationally supporting the second plurality of planetary gears, wherein the first carrier is directly coupled to the second carrier; a first electrical machine directly coupled to the first sun gear of the first gear set; a second electrical machine directly coupled to the second sun gear of the second gear set; a connecting shaft directly coupling an engine to the first ring gear of the first gear set; a driveshaft configured to transport power from the first electrical machine, the second electrical machine, and the engine to a tractive element of the vehicle; and a clutch selectively rotationally coupling the first carrier and the second carrier to the driveshaft when engaged, wherein the drive system is selectively reconfigurable into a neutral startup mode whereby rotation of the first electrical machine rotates the connecting shaft to start the engine.