Neutral determination device and vehicle control apparatus

A vehicle controlling apparatus comprising:

• a motor configured to output a force to a drive wheel of a vehicle;
• a clutch selectively connecting and disconnecting the motor to and from the drive wheel;
• a control valve configured to selectively supply a control hydraulic pressure to a hydraulic pressure chamber of the clutch with control hydraulic pressure;
• an inhibitor switch configured to output an inhibitor switch signal that indicates vehicle running range of a vehicle;
• a controller programmed to execute a neutral determination process upon determining the vehicle running range exists based on the inhibitor switch signal and a rotational speed control is being performed on the motor, and
• the controller being further programmed to determine existence of the neutral state of the control valve upon determining that a motor torque during the rotational speed control is smaller than an estimated motor torque based on a target transmission torque capacity of a clutch that is interposed between the motor and a drive wheel and that selectively connects and disconnects the motor to and from the drive wheel;
• the controller being further programmed to limit a transmission torque capacity of the clutch upon determining existence of the neutral state of the control valve.