Patent ID: 8565953

Claim:
A hybrid vehicle comprising a motor generating power to drive the vehicle; an internal combustion engine configured to be capable of outputting power to drive the vehicle independently of said motor; a main power storage device; an electric power feeding line supplying electric power to an inverter that controls and drives said motor; a first voltage converter provided between said electric power feeding line and said main power storage device and configured to convert voltage therebetween bidirectionally; a plurality of sub power storage devices provided in parallel to each other; a second voltage converter provided between said plurality of sub power storage devices and said electric power feeding line and configured to convert voltage between one of said plurality of sub power storage devices and said electric power feeding line bidirectionally; a connection unit provided between said plurality of sub power storage devices and said second voltage converter and configured to control connection and disconnection between said plurality of sub power storage devices and said second voltage converter; a control device operative in a first mode for controlling said connection unit to connect a selected sub power storage device selected sequentially from said plurality of sub power storage devices to said second voltage converter and also disconnect the sub power storage devices other than said selected sub power storage device from said second voltage converter, and operative in a second mode for controlling said connection unit to disconnect each of said plurality of sub power storage devices from said second voltage converter; and a traveling control unit dividing and thus assigning a total required power for the hybrid vehicle to power output from said motor and power output from said internal combustion engine, wherein said traveling control unit prohibits starting and stopping of the internal combustion engine during the process of disconnecting a last-used sub power storage in shifting from the first mode to the second mode.