Apparatus for controlling energy consumption and method thereof

An apparatus for controlling energy consumption of a vehicle including an energy supply source, the apparatus comprising:

• an input unit configured to receive an input of a destination;
• a sensor unit configured to sense environment information of an area around the vehicle;
• a control unit configured to calculate an amount of energy available from the energy supply source, estimate a movable distance of the vehicle based on the calculated amount of energy, and compare the estimated movable distance with a distance to the destination to thereby determine whether to activate a power saving driving mode;
• and
• an output unit configured to output a sound or an image,
• wherein the control unit searches for a route to a position corresponding to the destination and divides the route into a plurality of sectors,
• wherein the power saving driving mode is a mode in which the sensor unit is deactivated in at least one of the plurality of sectors,
• wherein the sensor unit comprises a plurality of sensor modules,
• wherein the input unit designates at least one sensor module among the plurality of sensor modules according to a user's input and inputs a deactivation signal to the control unit,
• wherein the control unit controls the output unit to display at least one sensor module to be deactivated among the plurality of sensor modules in the power saving driving module based on the calculated amount of energy, and deactivates at least one of the sensor modules designated according to a signal inputted through the input unit, and
• wherein the control unit recalculates a movable distance estimate in consideration of a state of the at least one deactivated sensor module according to the input of the input unit, and when the recalculated movable distance estimate exceeds a distance to the destination, the control unit calculates an extra amount of energy based on a difference between the movable distance estimate and the distance to the destination, and controls the output unit to display one or more functions usable by the calculated extra amount of energy.

A method for controlling energy consumption of a vehicle including an energy supply source, the method comprising:

• a first step of receiving an input of a destination;
• a second step of receiving traveling information;
• a third step of calculating an amount of energy available from the energy supply source, estimating a movable distance of the vehicle based on the calculated amount of energy, and comparing the estimated movable distance with a distance to the destination to thereby determine whether to activate a power saving driving mode;
• and
• a fourth step of searching for a route to a position corresponding to the destination and dividing the route into a plurality of sectors,
• wherein the power saving driving mode is a mode in which a sensor unit is deactivated in at least one of the plurality of sectors, and
• wherein the fourth step includes searching for a route to a position corresponding to the destination, detecting numbers of intersections per unit distance on the route according to the received traveling information, evaluating a similarity of the numbers of the intersections per unit distance, and setting sectors having similar numbers of intersections per unit distance as one sector.