Patent ID: 6537179
Filing Date: 2003-03-25
Classification: B60W,F16H,Y10T

Abstract:
A vehicle drive apparatus, comprising:a driving motor; a power transfer apparatus that transfers output of the driving motor to a drive wheel of a vehicle, the power transfer apparatus including a transmission mechanism that performs a speed shift operation via an operating fluid supplied from a pump that is driven by the driving motor; a neutral detecting sensor that detects that the power transfer apparatus is in a neutral state; a running detecting sensor that detects that the vehicle is in a running state; and a controller that controls the driving motor to a high operation speed that is higher than a target operation speed of the driving motor set for a non-running state of the vehicle if the running state of the vehicle is detected by the running detecting sensor when the neutral state of the power transfer apparatus is detected by the neutral detecting sensor, wherein the high operation speed is a minimum operation speed that allows the pump to achieve an operating fluid pressure that allows the power transfer apparatus to perform the speed shift operation.