Patent ID: 7034482

Claim:
A control apparatus for a hybrid vehicle comprising an engine, a drive motor that regenerates power, and an electric power storage device that gives/receives power to/from the drive motor, wherein a driving force from at least one of the engine and the drive motor is transmitted to a drive shaft of the vehicle, comprising: power consumption means for consuming power; a sensor that detects a state of charge of the electric power storage device; means for detecting a driving state of the vehicle; and a controller programmed to: calculate a chargeable energy amount in the electric power storage device on the basis of a difference between a fully charged state of the electric power storage device and the detected state of charge; set a power regenerated by the drive motor; calculate a chargeable power in the electric power storage device according to the detected state of charge; calculate a regenerated energy resulting from regenerative braking from the detected driving state of the vehicle; calculate a charging power limit for preventing an abrupt change in charging power with which the electric power storage device is charged, according to the calculated regenerated energy; and control the power consumption means to consume a power equal to a difference between the power regenerated by the drive motor and the charging power limit when the calculated regenerated energy is greater than the chargeable energy amount in the electric power storage device and when the charging power limit is smaller than the chargeable power.