A method for operating an internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle, whereby an electrically heated component of an exhaust aftertreatment system being supplied with electrical power via an electric machine driven by the internal combustion engine, a load point shift of the internal combustion engine being carried out by an activation or a deactivation of the component or by a temporary storage of the necessary electrical energy for operating the component in a battery.

Methods for extending a range of a vehicle are disclosed and include receiving a first data, the first data being indicative of a distance of the vehicle from a target destination, receiving a second data, the second data being indicative of a level of potential energy of an energy source for a power plant of the vehicle, receiving an operating parameter indicative of estimated future energy usage of the power plant, estimating, by a processor, an expected range of the vehicle based on the second data and the estimated future energy usage of the power plant, and adjusting a performance parameter of the power plant to extend an actual range of the vehicle when the estimated expected range is less than the distance of the vehicle from the target destination are disclosed. Systems for extending the range of the vehicle are also disclosed.

A vehicle adaptive cruise control apparatus for controlling traveling of a host vehicle is provided. The vehicle adaptive cruise control apparatus that is configured to: receive a vehicle speed of the host vehicle; receive an inter-vehicle distance between a preceding vehicle and the host vehicle; define a minimum safe inter-vehicle distance; set a reaction time of a driver; and use adaptive cruise control. The vehicle adaptive cruise control apparatus uses a maximum speed reference for the host vehicle which is defined as ratio between a) the inter-vehicle distance and b) the reaction time of the driver.

A method of assisting an autonomous vehicle includes obtaining first surrounding area information of the vehicle when the vehicle is located at a first distance from a monitored area disposed ahead of the vehicle, providing a first control command for controlling the vehicle to operate in a first operating mode, by using the first surrounding area information, obtaining second surrounding area information of the vehicle when the vehicle has driven toward the monitored area and is located at a second distance less than the first distance from the monitored area, and providing a second control command for controlling the vehicle to operate in a second operating mode, by using the second surrounding area information.

A deterioration evaluation apparatus for a secondary battery, which evaluates a degree of deterioration of the secondary battery of a hybrid vehicle including an engine that outputs a driving power, a motor that outputs a driving power, and the secondary battery configured to exchange an electric power with the motor, includes one or more processors configured to evaluate the degree of deterioration of the secondary battery based on a first relationship. The first relationship is set by using an accelerator operation amount and an operation point. The operation point includes a rotation speed of the engine and a load factor of the engine. The first relationship is a relationship between the operation point and a load on the secondary battery when the engine is operated at the operation point.

The invention relates to a method for improving the energy efficiency of a motor vehicle (1) comprising the steps of: detecting a driving situation; determining an efficient load range (23) for a power train (2) of the motor vehicle (1) depending on the detected driving situation; detecting a current load of the power train (2); and indicating the determined efficient load range (23) and the detected current load in a combined display device (4), so that a driver may selectively move the power train (2) of the motor vehicle (1) into the efficient load range (23).

The invention further relates to a motor vehicle (1) and a computer-readable medium comprising executable program code configured to execute the above method.

The system for range predication includes a pattern module, a consumption module, and a prediction module. The pattern module identifies a travel pattern of trips of a vehicle and receives vehicle data for the time period from the computing device of the vehicle. The travel pattern includes a path that is repeatedly traveled between an origin and a destination during a time period. The vehicle data includes historical range estimates for the vehicle along the path. The consumption module calculates energy consumption of the vehicle during the time period based on the vehicle data and determines actual remaining range values based on the energy consumption of the vehicle. The prediction module generates predictive range estimates along the path based on the actual remaining range and provides the predictive range estimates for a current trip.

A fleet management system dispatches autonomous electric vehicles (AEVs) as on-demand power sources. The fleet management system receives a request for a power source including a location and data describing the amount of power requested. The fleet management system selects an AEV of the fleet to service the request based on the relative locations of the AEVs to the requested location, and based on the amount of power requested. The fleet management system instructs the selected AEV to drive to the location and supply power. The fleet management system instructs the selected AEV to disconnect and return to the charging station, and may instruct another AEV to continue fulfilling the request if additional power is needed.

A method for analyzing the distribution of energy expenditures of a motor vehicle from data from a communications network and from parameters of the vehicle includes steps in which the energy expenditures of the vehicle over a journey are calculated, the said energy expenditures are analyzed by comparing them with at least one model of the vehicle simulating the same journey, an energy balance report is formulated on the basis of the analysis of the energy expenditures and of the fuel consumption and the said energy balance report is communicated to an external server.

A method for supporting energy-efficient deceleration of a vehicle includes determining a reference deceleration depending on a current speed or a speed profile of the vehicle, determining a starting time point and a starting speed of a deceleration of the vehicle, and determining a real energy consumption and a real distance between the starting time point and a current time point and/or ending time point of the deceleration. The method also includes calculating a reference time and a reference distance for a deceleration with the determined reference deceleration between the determined starting speed and the current speed and/or the speed at the ending time point of the vehicle, calculating an energy consumption for a differential distance from the determined real distance and the calculated reference distance, and calculating a real total energy consumption as the sum of the determined real energy consumption of the deceleration and the calculated energy consumption for the differential distance. Further, the method includes calculating a reference energy consumption for the reference deceleration from the starting speed to the current and/or ending speed depending on a predefined deceleration type of the reference deceleration and/or depending on the determined real energy consumption of the deceleration, and then providing an energy-saving potential on the basis of a difference between the real total energy consumption and the calculated reference energy consumption.