Hybrid vehicle rapid catalyst exhaust cooling

A hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), comprising:

• an internal combustion engine;
• a motor/generator configured to drive the internal combustion engine or be driven by the internal combustion engine to generate electricity to charge a high voltage (HV) battery and/or drive one or more electric traction motors;
• an exhaust system;
• a HV system electrically coupling the HV battery and the one or more electric traction motors;
• and
• a control system including a controller for performing a cooling operation to cool the exhaust system, wherein the controller is programmed to:
• determine if a temperature of an underhood environment of the HEV the internal combustion engine, and/or the exhaust system is above a predetermined threshold indicating a potential degradation of HV system performance;
• and
• operate the internal combustion engine in fuel shut-off to generate a flow of air to the exhaust system for cooling of the exhaust system to thereby cool the HV system, wherein the controller is configured to perform the cooling operation during a plug-in recharging of the HV battery.