Patent ID: 7252165

Claim:
A hybrid electric vehicle comprised of: a drive train; an electric motor for driving said drive train; a power unit electrically coupled to said electric motor; an electric energy storage system comprising a bank of ultracapacitors electrically coupled to said electric motor; and wherein said power unit and said electric energy storage system provide electricity to said electric motor for powering said vehicle; and a power management controller programmed to control output power of said power unit to maintain said energy storage system between a predetermined high voltage set-point and a predetermined low voltage set-point, wherein said vehicle has no device connected between said bank of ultracapacitors and said electric motor to convert variable voltage power to fixed voltage power; and further comprising: an electric bus connected to both the power unit and the electric energy source and where the voltage across the electric bus is substantially the same as the voltage across said electric energy source so that a change in voltage of the electric bus results in the same change to the voltage across the electric energy source.