System and method to facilitate satisfying low emission zone requirements

Abstract

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of managing vehicle electrical power that includes determining that there is at least one low emission zone along a route, determining a required power capacity a vehicle electric power source needs to propel the vehicle through the at least one low emission zone, determining a remaining power capacity of the vehicle electric power source and controlling use of electrical power on the vehicle to preserve at least a portion of the remaining power capacity corresponding to the required power capacity for use in propelling the vehicle through the at least one low emission zone.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A method of managing vehicle electric power, the method comprising:
 automatically determining that there is at least one low emission zone along a route;   automatically determining a required power capacity a vehicle electric power source needs to propel the vehicle through the at least one low emission zone;   automatically determining a remaining power capacity of the vehicle electric power source;   controlling use of electrical power on the vehicle to preserve at least a portion of the remaining power capacity corresponding to the required power capacity for use in propelling the vehicle through the at least one low emission zone;   determining that the remaining power capacity is less than the required power capacity;   providing an indication corresponding to an alert that there is insufficient power capacity to travel through the low emission zone;   providing an indication of at least one location where additional power capacity is available prior to passing through the low emission zone; and   providing automated route guidance to the at least one location based on a user selection of the at least one location.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein controlling the use of electrical power on the vehicle comprises
 automatically using an alternative source of power to propel the vehicle along a portion of the route outside the low emission zone to preserve at least the portion of the remaining power for use in the low emission zone.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein controlling the use of electrical power on the vehicle comprises
 automatically providing an indication to a driver to select an alternative source of power to propel the vehicle along a portion of the route outside the low emission zone to preserve at least the portion of the remaining power for use in the low emission zone.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein controlling the use of electrical power on the vehicle comprises
 identifying at least one vehicle system that uses electrical power; and   automatically adjusting operation of the at least one vehicle system to reduce an amount of electrical power used by the at least one vehicle system.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining that there is at least one low emission zone along the route comprises
 determining locations along the route based on navigation information for automatically guiding a driver along the route; and   determining whether any of the locations along the route corresponds to a location of a known low emission zone.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining that there is at least one low emission zone along the route comprises recognizing at least one feature of a current trip as an indication that the vehicle is on a route that was previously determined to include a low emission zone. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining that there is at least one low emission zone along the route comprises
 tracking a plurality of travels of the vehicle;   determining whether any of the plurality of travels include a similar path that corresponds to an identifiable route;   storing information regarding any identified route including information regarding locations along the identified route;   identifying a location along any identified route where driver action corresponded to operating the vehicle in a manner that satisfies a low emission zone operation requirement during the plurality of previous travels along the identified route;   storing the identified location as a location of a low emission zone associated with the identified route;   automatically recognizing the route based on current vehicle movement along at least a portion of a previously identified route; and   determining whether there is any stored identified location of a low emission zone associated with the route.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising determining the required power capacity based on at least one characteristic of the route through the at least one low emission zone, the at least one characteristic having an impact on electrical energy use. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one characteristic comprises at least one of
 a distance through the low emission zone,   a change in elevation in the low emission zone,   a traffic condition in the low emission zone, and   a weather condition in the low emission zone.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising
 providing an indication of at least one location where additional power capacity is available prior to reaching the low emission zone.   
     
     
         11 . A vehicle comprising a system configured to perform the method of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         12 . A system, comprising:
 user interface means for providing information to an individual in a vehicle; and   control means for   determining that there is at least one low emission zone along a route;   determining a required power capacity a vehicle electric power source needs to propel the vehicle through the at least one low emission zone;   determining a remaining power capacity of the vehicle electric power source;   controlling use of electrical power on the vehicle to preserve at least a portion of the remaining power capacity corresponding to the required power capacity for use in propelling the vehicle through the at least one low emission zone;   determining that the remaining power capacity is less than the required power capacity;   and controlling the user interface means to provide an indication corresponding to an alert that there is insufficient power capacity to travel through the low emission zone;   provide an indication of at least one location where additional power capacity is available prior to passing through the low emission zone; and   provide automated route guidance to the at least one location based on a user selection of the at least one location.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein
 the user interface means includes at least one of a display screen and a speaker; and   the control means includes at least one computing device and memory associated with the at least one computing device.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the at least one computing device comprises
 a first processor configured to determine information regarding the route and the at least one low emission zone; and   a second processor configured to determine the required power capacity.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the control means is configured for controlling the use of electrical power on the vehicle by automatically selecting an alternative source of power to propel the vehicle along a portion of the route outside the low emission zone to preserve at least the portion of the remaining power for use in the low emission zone. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the control means is configured for controlling the use of electrical power on the vehicle by controlling the user interface means for providing an indication to a driver to select an alternative source of power to propel the vehicle along a portion of the route outside the low emission zone to preserve at least the portion of the remaining power for use in the low emission zone. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the control means is configured for determining that there is at least one low emission zone along the route by
 determining locations along the route based on navigation information for automatically guiding a driver along the route; and   determining whether any of the locations along the route corresponds to a location of a known low emission zone.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the control means is configured for determining that there is at least one low emission zone along the route by recognizing at least one feature of a current trip as an indication that the vehicle is on a route that was previously determined to include a low emission zone. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the control means is configured for determining that there is at least one low emission zone along the route by
 tracking a plurality of travels of the vehicle;   determining whether any of the plurality of travels include a similar path that corresponds to an identifiable route;   storing information regarding any identified route including information regarding locations along the identified route;   identifying a location along any identified route where driver action corresponded to operating the vehicle in a manner that satisfies a low emission zone operation requirement during the plurality of previous travels along the identified route;   storing the identified location as a location of a low emission zone associated with the identified route;   automatically recognizing the route based on current vehicle movement along at least a portion of a previously identified route; and   determining whether there is any stored identified location of a low emission zone associated with the route.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the control means is configured for determining the required power capacity based on at least one characteristic of the route through the at least one low emission zone, the at least one characteristic having an impact on electrical energy use. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the at least one characteristic comprises at least one of
 a distance through the low emission zone,   a change in elevation in the low emission zone,   a traffic condition in the low emission zone, and   a weather condition in the low emission zone.   
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the control means is configured for
 controlling the user interface means to   provide an indication of at least one location where additional power capacity is available prior to reaching the low emission zone.   
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the control means is configured for
 identifying at least one vehicle system that uses electrical power; and   automatically adjusting operation of the at least one vehicle system to reduce an amount of electrical power used by the at least one vehicle system.   
     
     
         24 . A vehicle comprising the system of  claim 12 .