Patent ID: 11878687
Assignee: NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 9:
10. An automatic control apparatus for a vehicle, the automatic control apparatus comprising a controller comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the memory contains instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform steps comprising:
while operating the vehicle in an automated driving mode with a first vehicle speed as a target vehicle speed of the vehicle, determining whether or not a traffic jam end is detected ahead of the vehicle by a distance equal to or more than a first predetermined distance on a travel route of the vehicle;
upon determining that the traffic jam end is detected ahead of the vehicle by the distance equal to or more than a first predetermined distance:
operating the vehicle in the automated driving mode with a second vehicle speed, lower than the first vehicle speed, as the target vehicle speed of the vehicle;
determining whether the second vehicle speed is higher than an optimum fuel consumption vehicle speed at which a fuel consumption amount per travel distance is minimized,
upon determining that the second vehicle speed is higher than the optimum fuel consumption vehicle speed, operating the vehicle in the automated driving mode with a third vehicle speed, lower than the second vehicle speed, as the target vehicle speed of the vehicle,
upon determining that the second vehicle speed is lower than or equal to the optimum fuel consumption vehicle speed, operating the vehicle in the automated driving mode with the optimum fuel consumption vehicle speed as the target vehicle speed; and

while operating the vehicle in the automated driving mode with the optimum fuel consumption vehicle speed as the target vehicle speed, upon determining that the traffic jam end is detected ahead of the host vehicle by a distance equal to or less than a second predetermined distance, which is less than the first predetermined distance, stopping fuel supply to the internal combustion engine.