Fuel and reagent degradation reduction in hybrid electrical vehicle systems

An apparatus, comprising:

• a controller coupled to an internal combustion engine using a gaseous or liquid fuel, and to an electric motor coupled to a drive shaft of a vehicle, the controller configured to:
• estimate a value for an amount of oxygen the gaseous or liquid fuel in a fuel tank is exposed to since a last refueling event, the last refueling event comprising replacing or adding new fuel to the fuel tank;
• determine a time or a distance since the last refueling event;
• compare the estimated value for the amount of oxygen to a threshold value;
• adjust a threshold time or a threshold distance based upon the comparison between the estimated value for the amount of oxygen and the threshold value;
• compare the time or distance with the threshold time or the threshold distance, respectively;
• and
• responsive to the time or the distance being greater than the threshold time or the threshold distance, respectively, initiate at least one of:
• run the internal combustion engine, dose the fuel tank containing the gaseous or liquid fuel with an antioxidant, or actuate an indicator indicating that fuel replacement is overdue.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a controller coupled to an internal combustion engine, to an exhaust treatment system including a tank containing a reductant reagent, and to an electric motor coupled to a drive shaft of a vehicle, the controller configured to:
• determine a time or a distance since a last reagent replacement event, the last reagent replacement event comprising replacing or adding new reductant reagent to the tank;
• compare the time or the distance with a threshold time or a threshold distance, respectively, and
• responsive to the time or the distance being greater than the threshold time or the threshold distance, respectively, adjust an operation of the exhaust treatment system to accommodate degradation of the reductant reagent.

An apparatus, comprising:

• a controller coupled to an internal combustion engine, to an exhaust treatment system including a tank containing a reductant reagent, and to an electric motor coupled to a drive shaft of a vehicle, the controller configured to:
• determine a concentration of urea in the reductant reagent;
• compare the concentration of urea to a threshold value;
• responsive to the concentration of threshold value being greater than the threshold, initiate at least one of:
• run the internal combustion engine or adjust an operation of the exhaust treatment system to accommodate degradation of the reductant reagent.