Patent ID: 8322474

Claim:
A vehicle propulsion device comprising: a motor generator installed in a vehicle and configured to drive a drive wheel of the vehicle by operating as a motor and braking the drive wheel of the vehicle by operating as a generator; a storage battery that transfers electric power to and from the motor generator; a first thermoelectric conversion element thermally connected to the motor generator and configured to absorb heat from the motor generator when the electric power is supplied to the first thermoelectric conversion element; and a power control unit that controls the power transfer between the motor generator and the storage battery so that the electric power is supplied from the storage battery to the motor generator when the motor generator drives the drive wheel, that controls the power transfer between the motor generator and the storage battery so that the electric power is supplied from the motor generator to the storage battery, and that simultaneously controls a power supply from the motor generator to the first thermoelectric conversion element so that the first thermoelectric conversion element is supplied with the electric power from the motor generator to cool the motor generator, when the motor generator brakes the drive wheel.