PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING OPERATING CONDITIONS OF A HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLE TO OPTIMIZE OPERATING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE VEHICLE AND COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIUM ENCODED WITH INSTRUCTIONS FOR CONTROLLING THE OPERATING CONDITIONS

摘要

In a hybrid electric vehicle having a prime mover for supplying mechanical energy to a generator, a method, apparatus, medium and signals for controlling the supply of power from the electric generator are disclosed. The method is performed by the apparatus and is defined by codes on the medium and in the codes in the signals, the method comprising the operation of the vehicle from a plurality of sets of vehicle operating conditions related to the requested generator power value. Defining an optimal set of operating conditions for optimizing operating characteristics and for operating the vehicle at the optimal set of operating conditions and causing the generator to supply power to the requested generator power value, and Generating a signal to control the generator driven by the prime mover. The present invention also provides a method of generating vehicle performance records for use in generating signals for controlling the prime mover and the generator to achieve the optimized operating characteristics.