Patent ID: 8919100

Claim:
A method of heating a catalytic converter for a motor vehicle comprising: providing a regenerative brake system in said motor vehicle for producing electric current as a result of application of said regenerative brake system; and sending at least a fraction of said electric current directly to an electric heater that is incorporated with said catalytic converter to heat said catalytic converter and bypassing a battery in said motor vehicle; having a controller determine said fraction of electric current to be supplied directly to the electric heater through a power distribution system by using one or more inputs and comparing said inputs with a respective predetermined referenced input and said power distribution system directing a remaining fraction of electric current from said regenerative brake system to said battery or an accessory power bus; determining said fraction of electric current to be supplied directly to the electric heater by determining an error factor (e) based on a reference input subtracted from an actual input; and said error factor being inputted into said controller.