Patent ID: 8452509

Claim:
A method for vehicle speed-based operational cost optimization for a vehicle, comprising: providing one or more processors and a vehicle speed-based operational cost optimization module, the one or more processors: 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, 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 and traffic congestion; accessing operator input data indicative of operator input, said operator input including at least fuel cost and operator income; performing a first optimization by the vehicle speed-based operational cost optimization module to determine a vehicle speed optimization vector based on said accessed predetermined vehicle parameter data, road terrain data, and said operator input data; accessing current vehicle operating data indicative of at least two current vehicle operating conditions, said at least two current vehicle operating conditions including current vehicle speed and road grade; determining operating income based on a function of at least the fuel cost and the operator income; and performing a second optimization by the vehicle speed-based operational cost optimization module to determine an optimized vehicle speed based on said current vehicle operating data and said vehicle speed optimization vector by maximizing the operating income relative to a vehicle speed.