Patent ID: 8825249

Claim:
A drive control device for a series hybrid vehicle including an engine, a power generator motor driven by the engine, a battery charged by power generated by the power generator motor, and a drive motor that drives driving wheels by the power generated by the power generator motor or discharged power by the battery, the drive control device comprising: an accelerator pedal operated level detector that detects an operated level of an accelerator pedal; a charging level detector that detects a charging level of the battery; and a controller which controls a speed and a torque of the engine to allow the engine to operate at an engine operating point corresponding to a target engine speed and a target engine torque based on the operated level of the accelerator pedal detected by the accelerator pedal operated level detector within a first range where a power generation efficiency obtained based on a drive efficiency of the engine and a motor drive efficiency of the power generator motor is equal to or higher than a preset power generation efficiency when the charging level detected by the charging level detector is equal to or higher than a preset charging level, and which controls the speed and the torque of the engine to allow the engine to operate at the engine operating point based on the operated level of the accelerator pedal detected by the accelerator pedal operated level detector within a second range where the power generated by the power generator motor is larger than the generated power in a case of the first range when the charging level detected by the charging level detector is smaller than the preset charging level.