Vehicle Drive Device

A vehicle drive device comprising:

• an electric motor that directly drives a vehicle;
• a first electrical storage device that is of a high-voltage type and includes a plurality of secondary battery cells;
• an electrical storage control device that monitors a charge/discharge status of the first electrical storage device;
• a DC-to-AC power conversion device that converts DC power supplied from the first electrical storage device to AC power, and supplies the AC power to the electric motor;
• a plurality of auxiliary machines mounted in the vehicle;
• a second electrical storage device that is of a low-voltage type and supplies DC power in order to drive the plurality of auxiliary machines;
• a DC-to-DC power conversion device that converts DC power from the first electrical storage device, and supplies the converted DC power to the second electrical storage device;
• and
• a vehicle control device that provides overall control of the vehicle, wherein:
• the vehicle control device includes
• a degradation determination section that determines whether a degree of degradation of the first electrical storage device can be determined,
• an auxiliary machine selection section that selects one or more auxiliary machines from the plurality of auxiliary machines, and
• a degradation estimation section that drives the one or more auxiliary machines selected by the auxiliary selection section to estimate the degree of degradation of the first electrical storage device when the degradation determination section determines that the degree of degradation of the first electrical storage device can be determined;
• and
• when an amount of electrical power stored in the first electrical storage device is greater than a predetermined value and an amount of electrical power stored in the second electrical storage device is smaller than a predetermined value, the auxiliary machine selection section preferentially selects an auxiliary machine that is operated at a low voltage by the second electrical storage device.

A vehicle drive device comprising:

• an electric motor that directly drives a vehicle;
• a first electrical storage device that is of a high-voltage type and includes a plurality of secondary battery cells;
• an electrical storage control device that monitors a charge/discharge status of the first electrical storage device;
• a DC-to-AC power conversion device that converts DC power supplied from the first electrical storage device to AC power, and supplies the AC power to the electric motor;
• a plurality of auxiliary machines mounted in the vehicle;
• a second electrical storage device that is of a low-voltage type and supplies DC power in order to drive the plurality of auxiliary machines;
• a DC-to-DC power conversion device that converts DC power from the first electrical storage device, and supplies the converted DC power to the second electrical storage device;
• and
• a vehicle control device that provides overall control of the vehicle, wherein:
• the vehicle control device includes a degradation determination section that determines whether a degree of degradation of the first electrical storage device can be determined,
• an auxiliary machine selection section that selects one or more auxiliary machines from the plurality of auxiliary machines, and
• a degradation estimation section that drives the one or more auxiliary machines selected by the auxiliary selection section to estimate the degree of degradation of the first electrical storage device when the degradation determination section determines that the degree of degradation of the first electrical storage device can be determined;
• and
• when an amount of electrical power stored in the first electrical storage device and an amount of electrical power stored in the second electrical storage device are greater than predetermined values, the auxiliary machine selection section preferentially selects an auxiliary machine that is operated at a high voltage by the first electrical storage device.