Patent ID: 8639436

Claim:
A method for vehicle fuel quantity management, comprising: providing one or more processors; accessing first operator input data indicative of at least one first operator input, said at least one first operator input including at least one of fuel cost, trip time, route beginning and ending points to define a route, and maximum vehicle speed; accessing predetermined vehicle parameter data indicative of at least one predetermined vehicle parameter, said at least one predetermined vehicle parameter including at least one of vehicle mass, vehicle drag, vehicle rolling resistance, tire circumference, front area of vehicle, powertrain torque loss, vehicle tank capacity, and engine friction; accessing road terrain data indicative of at least one road terrain element, said at least one road terrain element including at least one of speed limit changes, off ramp locations, fueling locations, road grade, air density, position, elevation, and traffic congestion; performing a first fuel assessment by the one or more processors to determine a preliminary route fuel quantity based on said predetermined vehicle parameter data, said road terrain data, and said first operator input data; determining a first fuel quantity to optimize freight weight based on said first fuel assessment; accessing current vehicle operating condition data and current road terrain data indicative of at least current vehicle speed, current road grade, and current fueling locations; performing a second fuel assessment by the one or more processors to determine at least one recommended fueling stop location and at least one recommended fuel amount; and generating electronic recommendation signals corresponding to said determined at least one recommended fueling stop location and at least one recommended fuel amount and communicating said recommendation signals to a receiver.