Patent ID: 8155867

Claim:
A method for communicating with a vehicle about then-current vehicle operating conditions, comprising: real-time monitoring, via a telematics unit in a vehicle, of vehicle data when the vehicle is traveling on a road segment; comparing the real-time monitored vehicle data with previously stored data of one or more other vehicles that previously traveled on the road segment, the comparing including: running a query for information related to vehicles that have one or more common characteristics with the vehicle, the query being run in a database which includes the previously stored data of the one or more other vehicles that previously traveled on the road segment; receiving the information as a result of the query; and comparing the real-time monitored vehicle data with the information from the query; based on the comparison, determining an operation of the vehicle in order to achieve optimal fuel efficiency; and submitting, to the vehicle, the operation of the vehicle for i) increasing a then-current fuel efficiency of the vehicle or ii) maintaining the then-current fuel efficiency of the vehicle.