Patent ID: 7857080

Claim:
A system for selectively consuming and storing electrical energy in a hybrid vehicle comprising: an electric motor/generator unit having a rotary shaft, an internal combustion engine having a main shaft, a continuously variable transmission mechanically coupled in series between said electric motor/generator unit rotary shaft and said engine main shaft, a first control circuit which varies the torque of said electric motor/generator unit rotary shaft between a negative value and a positive value as a function of the operating condition of the vehicle, a second control circuit which varies the ratio of the continuously variable transmission, wherein said transmission includes a first rotary member and a second rotary member rotatably coupled together by a variable ratio transmission element, said first rotary member being directly attached to and rotating in unison with said electric motor/generator unit rotary shaft, and a drive belt rotatably connecting said second rotary member of said transmission and said engine main shaft together.