Vehicle control device

A vehicle control device comprising:

• an internal combustion engine provided in a vehicle;
• a transmission mechanism that changes drive force from the internal combustion engine and transmits the changed drive force to a travel drive system;
• an electric motor that starts up the internal combustion engine;
• a valve opening/closing timing control mechanism having a driving rotating body that rotates synchronously with a crankshaft of the internal combustion engine and a driven rotating body that is arranged on the same axis as the driving rotating body and rotates integrally with a valve opening/closing camshaft of the internal combustion engine, and having a lock mechanism that selectively holds a relative rotation phase of the driving rotating body and the driven rotating body at a first lock phase and a second lock phase that is different from the first lock phase;
• a control valve mechanism that controls the relative rotation phase in accordance with supply/discharge of a fluid to/from an advancing chamber and a retarding chamber formed between the driving rotating body and the driven rotating body, and that selectively performs holding and canceling of a locked state in accordance with supply/discharge of fluid to/from the lock mechanism;
• and
• a control unit that, in a case where the vehicle is stopped in a state where the transmission mechanism is set to a first shift position in which the vehicle can travel, performs stop control to hold the lock mechanism at the first lock phase and stop the internal combustion engine, and, in a case where the transmission mechanism is switched to the second shift position that is different from the first shift position in a situation where the internal combustion engine is stopped based on the stop control, controls the motor to start up the internal combustion engine and executes phase conversion control in which the lock mechanism shifts from the first lock phase to the second lock phase.