Method for controlling the starting torque and power of an internal combustion engine

The method involves operating an electrical starter-generator from an inverter with electrical power from a battery. The phase current of the starter-generator is limited to attain an imaginary corner point (31) on the machine's torque curve (4) and the machine is controlled along a power limit curve (30) so that the electrical power corresponds to that at the static working point (25) of the machine.