Patent ID: 8326478

Claim:
A hybrid vehicle comprising: an internal combustion engine; a power storage device configured to be rechargeable by a charging facility external to said hybrid vehicle; a motor outputting a vehicle driving force using electric power from said power storage device; a vehicle position sensing unit acquiring vehicle position information of said hybrid vehicle; an information acquisition unit acquiring at least one of road map information and external information from outside said hybrid vehicle; a passage prediction unit for predicting in advance whether said hybrid vehicle will pass through a certain regulated area where vehicle traveling using said internal combustion engine is subjected to billing, based on said vehicle position information as well as on said at least one of said road map information and said external information; an acquisition unit acquiring a current state of charge of said power storage device when passage through said regulated area is predicted; a required energy estimation unit estimating a required energy quantity required to be output from said power storage device for passing through said regulated area in an electric traveling mode of traveling using the vehicle driving force from said motor with said internal combustion engine stopped, when passage through said regulated area is predicted; an energy deficit calculation unit calculating an energy deficit of said power storage device deficient for said hybrid vehicle to pass through said regulated area in said electric traveling mode, based on an estimated value of said required energy quantity estimated by said required energy estimation unit and the current state of charge of said power storage device; and a control unit for executing control for preparing for passage through said regulated area based on the energy deficit calculated by said energy deficit calculation unit, before entering said regulated area, wherein said control unit includes an external charge control unit controlling charging in accordance with a state of charge and a charge target level of said power storage device during external charge of said power storage device by said charging facility, and when said energy deficit is calculated by said energy deficit calculation unit, said external charge control unit sets said charge target level such that an energy quantity charged by said external charge corresponds to said energy deficit.