Vehicle control apparatus

A vehicle control apparatus comprising:

• a motor driving system including a traveling motor and a wheel coupled to the traveling motor;
• a clutch mechanism provided between an engine and the motor driving system and has an operation state that is switchable between an engagement state and a release state;
• a clutch controller configured to switch the operation state of the clutch mechanism from the release state to the engagement state upon switching of a traveling mode from a motor traveling mode to an engine traveling mode, the motor traveling mode allowing for traveling based on the traveling motor, the engine traveling mode allowing for traveling based on the engine;
• an engine controller configured to start the engine upon the switching of the traveling mode from the motor traveling mode to the engine traveling mode;
• and
• a motor controller configured to control the traveling motor to suppress variation in torque at time of the starting of the engine, upon the switching of the traveling mode from the motor traveling mode to the engine traveling mode,
• the clutch controller being configured to control the clutch mechanism to be brought into the engagement state at a first engaging speed when the engine is started on a condition that a revolution speed of the motor driving system is higher than a revolution threshold, and configured to control the clutch mechanism to be brought into the engagement state at a second engaging speed when the engine is started on a condition that the revolution speed of the motor driving system is lower than the revolution threshold, the second engaging speed being lower than the first engaging speed.