Method and an apparatus for controlling driving power in a motor vehicle

A computer program product comprising computer program code stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, said computer program product used for controlling driving power from a powertrain of a motor vehicle, wherein the motor vehicle comprises a kickdown switch and wherein the motor vehicle is configured so that an activation of the kickdown switch triggers a default action, the default action comprising temporarily requesting an increase of a maximum power available from the powertrain, said computer program code comprising computer instructions to cause one or more control units to perform the following operations:

• recognizing that a speed limiter, which controls an upper speed limit at which a vehicle can operate, is active;
• comparing a current vehicle speed to a predefined speed threshold, wherein the predefined speed threshold is less than the upper speed limit associated with the speed limiter;
• and
• in response to:
• (i) activation of the kickdown switch, (ii) the current vehicle speed being above the predefined speed threshold, (iii) the speed limiter being active, and (iv) a triggering condition being fulfilled, triggering an altered action, wherein the altered action comprises allowing the vehicle speed to be temporarily increased above the upper speed limit by temporarily overriding the speed limiter without deactivating the speed limiter, such that the speed limiter does not control the vehicle to limit the speed of the vehicle to the upper speed limit during a kickdown operation.

An apparatus for controlling driving power from a powertrain of a motor vehicle, wherein the motor vehicle comprises a kickdown switch and wherein the motor vehicle is configured so that an activation of the kickdown switch triggers a default action, the default action comprising temporarily requesting an increase of a maximum power available from the powertrain, the apparatus configured to:

• recognize that a speed limiter, which controls an upper speed limit at which a vehicle can operate, is active;
• compare a current vehicle speed to a predefined speed threshold, wherein the predefined speed threshold is less than the upper speed limit associated with the speed limiter;
• and
• in response to:
• (i) activation of the kickdown switch, (ii) the current vehicle speed being above the predefined speed threshold, (iii) the speed limiter being active, and (iv) a triggering condition being fulfilled, trigger an altered action, wherein the altered action comprises allowing the vehicle speed to be temporarily increased above the upper speed limit by temporarily overriding the speed limiter without deactivating the speed limiter, such that the speed limiter does not control the vehicle to limit the speed of the vehicle to the upper speed limit during a kickdown operation.

A motor vehicle comprising an apparatus for controlling driving power from a powertrain of a motor vehicle, wherein the motor vehicle comprises a kickdown switch and wherein the motor vehicle is configured so that an activation of the kickdown switch triggers a default action, the default action comprising temporarily requesting an increase of a maximum power available from the powertrain, the apparatus configured to:

• recognize that a speed limiter, which controls an upper speed limit at which a vehicle can operate, is active;
• compare a current vehicle speed to a predefined speed threshold, wherein the predefined speed threshold is less than the upper speed limit associated with the speed limiter;
• and
• in response to:
• (i) activation of the kickdown switch, (ii) the current vehicle speed being above the predefined speed threshold, (iii) the speed limiter being active, and (iv) a triggering condition being fulfilled, trigger an altered action, wherein the altered action comprises allowing the vehicle speed to be temporarily increased above the upper speed limit by temporarily overriding the speed limiter without deactivating the speed limiter, such that the speed limiter does not control the vehicle to limit the speed of the vehicle to the upper speed limit during a kickdown operation.