Controller for vehicle and control method for vehicle

A controller for a vehicle, the vehicle including:

• an internal combustion engine that includes
• cylinders,
• injectors respectively disposed in the cylinders and each configured to directly inject fuel into a corresponding one of the cylinders, and
• a crankshaft;
• an electric motor located on a power transmission path from the internal combustion engine to a driven wheel, the electric motor including a rotary shaft;
• and
• a clutch located between the internal combustion engine and the electric motor, the clutch being configured to switch between a connected state in which the crankshaft and the rotary shaft are connected to each other and a disconnected state in which the crankshaft and the rotary shaft are disconnected from each other,
• the controller comprising processing circuitry, wherein the processing circuitry is configured to execute:
• when a start request for the internal combustion engine is made in a state in which 1) the clutch is in the disconnected state, 2) a rotation speed of the crankshaft is greater than or equal to a specified rotation speed that is greater than zero, and 3) fuel injection by the injector is stopped,
• a first process that identifies a target cylinder from the cylinders, the target cylinder referring to a cylinder that is in a compression stroke when the start request is made;
• a second process that calculates a requested injection position based on the rotation speed of the crankshaft, the requested injection position referring to a rotation position of the crankshaft at which fuel injection should be started by a target injector if fuel is burned in the target cylinder, and the target injector referring to an injector configured to inject fuel into the target cylinder;
• a third process that calculates, as a start crank position, the rotation position of the crankshaft that is advanced from the requested injection position by a specified rotation amount;
• and
• a fourth process that outputs a command signal that instructs the target injector to inject fuel at the start crank position only in a case in which the rotation position of the crankshaft obtained when the start request was made is advanced from the start crank position.