Patent ID: 7665559

Claim:
A method comprising: determining information about a future path of a vehicle that is operating using stored energy and consumable fuel, and where said vehicle includes a source for said stored energy that can be recharged, and where said future path of the vehicle comprises a path all the way from a starting point of a trip to a destination; recharging said battery by running a motor, said recharging occuring only at certain times; and using said information, along with a level of charge of said source at said starting point, to determine an amount of said stored energy to be used by said vehicle for movement of the vehicle along said path to said destination, said amount of stored energy being used is an amount which will deplete the source of stored energy when at said destination, and to determine a total future recharge time over the entire trip to recharge the battery at the destination, and to control consumption of stored energy based on the determined amount of energy to be used.