A method for determining a transmission gear selection includes providing a vehicle sensor configured to measure a vehicle characteristic, providing at least one controller in communication with the vehicle sensor, receiving, by the controller, sensor data indicative of the vehicle characteristic, determining, by the controller, an intended transmission gear selection, and generating, by the controller, a control signal including an instruction for selection of the intended transmission gear selection.

A control device in a motor vehicle outputs a gear-shift recommendation. The control device has an electronic control unit which can be coupled to an acoustic signal output unit. The control device includes a shift recommendation module for determining a current most economical target gear, a comparison module for determining the distance between the currently-selected actual gear and the target gear, and an acoustic output module for activating an acoustic recommendation signal according to the distance between the actual gear and the target gear.

A method and apparatus is disclosed for evaluating the driving of a vehicle performing a journey on a road network, comprising determining at least one constant speed zone of the road network, a constant speed zone being a portion of the road network at which the vehicle can travel at a constant speed, said determination being based upon expected speeds of travel along the road network determined from positional data relating to the movements of a plurality of vehicles over time along the road network. A speed of the vehicle traversing the road network is determined at a plurality of times during the journey, and a value indicative of a consistency of the speed of the vehicle within the at least one constant speed zone is further determined.

A control system and method for a vehicle is provided. The system comprises a poly-shifter, an RF Hub, a transmission control module (TCM) and a controller. The poly-shifter is configured to be moved between operating states including Park and Non-Park positions. The RF Hub supports operational features of the vehicle. The TCM determines a lock state of a parking pawl in a transmission of the vehicle and communicates the lock state to the RF Hub. The controller is configured to determine whether a driver has exited the vehicle with the poly-shifter in a Non-Park position. The controller is further configured to power down the vehicle based on the lock state of the parking pawl being in a Park position and the driver exiting the vehicle with the poly-shifter in the Non-Park position.

An exemplary powertrain assembly includes, an electric machine, an engine, and a controller. The electric machine selectively drives at least one wheel driveshaft when in an automatic drive mode. The engine, through the manual transmission, selectively drives at least one wheel driveshaft when in a manual drive mode. The controller is configured to initiate an alert that suggests a transition from the automatic drive mode to the manual drive mode. An exemplary vehicle control method includes initiating an alert to suggest a transition from an automatic drive mode to a manual drive mode. When in the automatic drive mode, the method drives at least one wheel driveshaft within a plurality of wheel driveshafts using torque from an electric machine that is not moved through a manual transmission. When in the manual drive mode, the method drives at least one wheel driveshaft within the plurality of wheel driveshafts with torque from an engine that is moved through a manual transmission.

A gear selection recommendation can be displayed in a vehicle having a transmission to be actuated manually. The gear selection recommendation can be calculated based on a present deceleration setpoint value to be ascertained by a control unit. A gear suitable for generating an engine braking force corresponding to the present deceleration setpoint value is calculated and the calculated gear is displayed as the gear selection recommendation on a display unit included in the vehicle.

A vehicle makes a notification to prompt a driver to perform a predetermined operation in a case in which a predetermined function of the vehicle is lost, and starts a recovery operation of the function on condition that the predetermined operation is performed.

A system, method, and computer readable storage device are provided for providing a dynamic tachometer. Based on various signal inputs from a plurality of data sources, a tachometer may be dynamically modified to include visual information and assistance to the driver in relation to the vehicle's engine speed (i.e., revolution speed of the vehicle's crankshaft). The tachometer may include one or a combination of: dynamic shift point indicators, a target engine speed range indicator, an overspeed indicator, and a power take-off mode indicator.

A shift change practice device capable of improving the effect of learning a shift change operation is provided. The shift change practice device includes: an optimum speed calculation unit that calculates an optimum value or an optimum range of an engine revolution speed in the event of a shift change; a revolution speed comparison unit that determines whether or not a detected revolution speed that is a detected value of the engine revolution speed is equal to the optimum value or whether or not the detected revolution speed is included in the optimum range, in a state where a clutch is disconnected; and a notification instruction unit that instructs a notification device to give a predetermined notification to a driver when the detected revolution speed is equal to the optimum value or the detected revolution speed is included in the optimum range, in the state where the clutch is disconnected.

A vehicle driver interface includes a mode selector, such as a shift lever, and two shift paddles. The shift paddles perform different functions according to which driving mode is selected via the mode selector. In a manual mode, driver activation of one of the shift paddles results in an upshifts and driver activation of the other shift paddle results in a downshift. In a snowplow mode, driver activation of one of the shift paddles shifts the transmission to reverse while driver activation of the other shift paddle shifts the transmission to forward.