An embodiment hybrid electric vehicle includes a battery, a bidirectional power conversion device connected to the battery, a battery control unit configured to output a charge power instruction when a state of charge (SOC) of the battery is a first reference value or less by determining the SOC of the battery in a battery power output mode in which power of the battery is output to the outside through the bidirectional power conversion device, an engine control unit configured to drive an engine when the SOC of the battery is the first reference value or less, and a motor control unit configured to, when the charge power instruction is received, drive a motor such that the motor generates electricity using power from the engine and the battery is charged based on the received charge power instruction.

A method and apparatus for evaluating the driving of a vehicle performing a journey on a road network is disclosed. The method comprises determining a fuel usage rate and an engine speed of a vehicle, and determining when the vehicle is coasting based upon at least one of the fuel usage rate and the engine speed of the vehicle. An acceleration of the vehicle, when the vehicle is determined to be coasting, is compared with a predetermined reference acceleration, and an application of braking during the coasting is determined based on the result of the comparison. A method and apparatus is also disclosed for determining a score indicative of the relative amount of time for which the vehicle is coasting without braking during a journey.

A method for calculating a management setpoint for managing fuel and electric power consumption of a hybrid motor vehicle. The method includes: a) acquiring, via a navigation system, a journey to be made, b) dividing the journey into successive sections, c) acquiring, for each section, attributes characterizing the section, d) deducing a relation linking the estimated fuel consumption of the hybrid motor vehicle over the section to the estimated electric power consumption of the hybrid motor vehicle, e) measuring the actual fuel consumption and the actual electric power consumption of the motor vehicle, f) correcting the relation, taking into account the actual fuel and electric power consumptions, and g) determining an optimal consumption point in each of the corrected relations in order to minimize the fuel consumption of the motor vehicle over the journey as a whole.

A method for preserving the state of health of a traction battery of a hybrid motor vehicle includes: a) acquiring a journey to be made via a navigation system installed in the hybrid motor vehicle, b) dividing the journey into successive portions, c) allocating attributes characterising each of the portions, d) determining, for each of the portions, a curve or a map linking every fuel consumption value of the hybrid motor vehicle for the portion to a charge or discharge value of the traction battery, e) determining an optimal point on each curve or map that makes it possible to minimise the ageing of the traction battery over the entire journey and to ensure that the traction battery is completely discharged on completion of the journey, and f) generating an energy management setpoint depending on the coordinates of the optimal points.

Method and apparatus are disclosed for lead vehicle monitoring for adaptive cruise control. An example vehicle includes a communication module for V2V communication, a camera, a sensor, and an adaptive cruise control unit. The adaptive cruise control unit is to determine an acceleration oscillation value of a lead vehicle based upon measurements collected via at least one of the camera and the sensor and send, via the communication module, an instruction to the lead vehicle to activate cruise control responsive to determining the acceleration oscillation value exceeds a threshold.

A propulsion system, control system, and method use model predictive control systems to generate a plurality of sets of possible command values and determine a cost for each set of possible command values. The set of possible command values that has the lowest cost is determined and defined as a selected set of command values. In some circumstances, the MPC-determined command value may be replaced by another transmission ratio command based on override inputs. Minimum and maximum transmission ratios are determined based on the override inputs, and a constrained (or arbitrated) transmission ratio is determined therefrom. The constrained or arbitrated transmission ratio is used to determine whether to apply an MPC-determined transmission ratio or a transmission ratio based on the arbitrated transmission ratio to determine an ultimate commanded transmission ratio. Pressure(s) are commanded to a transmission pulley assembly, which is configured to implement the ultimate commanded transmission ratio.

A method and apparatus for providing an indication to a driver of a geared vehicle that the vehicle is not in an optimal gear is disclosed. The method comprises determining a current gear of the vehicle and determining a current speed of a drive unit of the vehicle. An indication is then provided to the driver of the vehicle that the vehicle is not in an optimal gear when: (i) the determined current speed of the drive unit is greater than a predetermined threshold; and (ii) the determined current gear of the vehicle is less than a maximum gear of the vehicle. A method and apparatus is also disclosed for determining a score indicative of the amount of time during a journey on a road network that a geared vehicle is driven in an optimal gear.

Systems and methods for improving fuel economy in vehicles such as Class 8 trucks are provided. In some embodiments, signals indicating states of the powertrain are collected and used to generate fuel rate optimization values. Fuel rate optimization values may indicate a difference between optimum fuel flow rates and actual fuel flow rates during a vehicle drive cycle. Recorded fuel rate optimization values may be used to compare different vehicle configurations during testing, and may also be used to evaluate vehicle performance during real-world operation.

A vehicular breaking force control system includes: a plurality of actuators capable of generating a braking force for a vehicle; a coasting state detection unit configured to detect that a coasting state has been established; a target braking force calculation unit configured to calculate a target braking force on the basis of a state of the vehicle when the coasting state detection unit detects that the coasting state has been established; and a braking force distribution control unit configured to determine a distribution braking force that is a braking force to be caused to be generated by each actuator, such that the distribution braking force is equal to or less than a braking force generable by the actuator and a sum of the distribution braking forces is equal to the target braking force, and to perform control of causing each actuator to generate the distribution braking force.

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.