Vehicular information-processing device

#The present disclosure relates to a vehicular information-processing device that processes information regarding application of a plurality of driving modes of a vehicle.

#Conventionally, vehicles that use an internal combustion engine and a motor as drive sources have been widely known. Such vehicles include plug-in hybrid vehicles. Such a vehicle has, as driving modes, a CD mode (first mode), in which the charge amount of the battery is consumed, and a CS mode (second mode), in which the battery charge amount is maintained. In the CD mode, for example, priority is given to EV driving, in which the engine is stopped and only the motor is used. That is, use of the engine is restrained or prohibited. In the CS mode, priority is given to HV driving, in which at least one of the engine and the motor is used as necessary to maintain the charge amount of the battery.

#In recent years, vehicular information-processing devices have been proposed that calculates a travel route from a departure place to a destination and assigns, as a vehicle driving mode, the first mode or the second mode to each of the sections in the calculated travel route. For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-12605 discloses one example of the vehicular control device that has such an information processing function for a vehicle.

#The features of the present invention that are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention, together with objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description of the presently preferred embodiments together with the accompanying drawings in which:

#FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a vehicular information-processing device according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure;

#FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a process executed by the vehicular information-processing device of FIG. 1 to assess the magnitude of fuel efficiency improvement based on the tendency of assignment of a CD mode;

#A vehicular information-processing device according to a first embodiment will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. The vehicular information-processing device of the present embodiment is mounted on a plug-in hybrid vehicle 100, which has an internal combustion engine 131 and an electric motor 140 as drive sources, and outputs driving assistance information.

#The outline of the vehicle 100, which is equipped with the vehicular information-processing device, will now be described.

#The vehicle 100 has two driving modes. One of the modes is a charge depleting (CD) mode, which is a first mode and consumes the charge amount of a battery 113. The other mode is a charge sustaining (CS) mode, which is a second mode and maintains the charge amount of a battery 113. In the CD mode, for example, priority is given to EV driving, in which the engine 131 is stopped and only the motor 140 is used, so that use of the engine 131 is restrained to consume the charge amount of the battery 113. In the CS mode, priority is given to HV driving, in which at least one of the engine 131 and the motor 140 is used to maintain the charge amount of the battery 113, so that the charge amount of the battery 113 is maintained. A navigation system 120 of the vehicle 100 sets a travel route from a departure place of the vehicle 100 to a destination when the destination is set. A travel assisting section 150, which is an assessing section of a hybrid system controller 110, assigns the CD mode or the CS mode to respective sections in the set travel route, thereby making a travel plan. Normally, although varying in the magnitude, a travel plan achieves a certain fuel efficiency improvement in comparison to traveling not in accordance with a travel plan. The magnitude of fuel efficiency improvement is assessed to be greater as the fuel efficiency in traveling in accordance with a travel plan becomes higher than the fuel efficiency of traveling not in accordance with the travel plan. Also, the magnitude of fuel efficiency improvement is assessed to be smaller as the fuel efficiency in traveling in accordance with a travel plan becomes closer to the fuel efficiency of traveling not in accordance with the travel plan. The travel assisting section 150 outputs, to a human machine interface (HMI) 123, which is a notifying device, information indicating that the magnitude of fuel efficiency improvement is relatively small, that is, information indicating that the effect on the fuel consumption corresponding to the tendency of assignment of the CD mode in the planned travel plan is relatively small. The HMI 123 displays on its screen the information indicating that the magnitude of fuel efficiency improvement is relatively small (refer to FIG. 4). This allows the user to select whether or not to travel in accordance with the travel plan. The travel assisting section 150 may be composed of circuitry.