Vehicle powertrain that compensates for a prime mover having slow transient response

摘要

A powertrain for transmitting power in a vehicle includes a prime mover having a relatively slow transient response, and a storage device for storing energy in a predetermined form. A transmission includes an input driveably connected to the prime mover and an output driveably connected to vehicle drive wheels, producing a range of ratios of a speed of the output to a speed of the input that varies from negative to positive and includes zero. An energy conversion device, driveably connected to the prime mover and drive wheels, converts rotational power transmitted to the energy conversion device from the wheels and the prime mover to a form of energy that can be stored in the storage device, and drives the wheels using energy supplied to the energy conversion device from the storage device. A control device alternately transmits energy from the storage device to the energy conversion device, and transmits energy from the energy conversion device to the storage device.