Control device and method for a vehicle, which is equipped with an internal combustion engine

A vehicle has an internal combustion engine (1) which is selectively connected, for example via a mechanical coupling to a drive train including a transmission (3). The vehicle further has a function device that is actuated by a signal generated by the internal combustion engine torque. A voltage applied from the functional device to the internal combustion engine load, when the drive train and the engine are engaged with each other while the vehicle is decelerated and a speed of the internal combustion engine is smaller than a predetermined value is controlled so that the load is reduced to a first value is smaller than a second value of the load applied to the motor when the speed of the engine is equal to or higher than the predetermined value.