Electric vehicle charge reduction apparatus and method

1. A vehicle comprising:

a rechargeable energy storage device;

a recharging system operatively connected to the energy storage device and configured to selectively charge the energy storage device by transmitting energy thereto;

a regenerative braking system operatively connected to the energy storage device to selectively transmit energy thereto; and

a controller operatively connected to the recharging system and configured to control the recharging system;

wherein the controller is configured to determine an amount of the vehicle's gravitational potential energy that is recoverable by the regenerative braking system over a predicted route; and

wherein the controller is configured to control the recharging system such that the amount of energy transferred from the recharging system to the energy storage device is based on the amount of the vehicle's gravitational potential energy that is recoverable by the regenerative braking system over the predicted route.

2. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the energy storage system is an electric battery.

3. The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the recharging system includes an onboard source of electrical energy configured to selectively transmit electrical energy to the battery.

4. The vehicle of claim 3 , wherein the onboard source includes an engine and a generator;

wherein the engine is operatively connected to the generator to selectively provide power to the generator;

wherein the generator is operatively connected to the electric battery to selectively transmit electrical energy thereto.

5. The vehicle of claim 4 , further comprising a vehicle body defining an engine compartment; and wherein the engine is at least partially disposed within the engine compartment.

6. The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the recharging system is configured to receive energy from an offboard source.

7. The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the battery has a maximum energy storage capacity; and

wherein the controller is configured to cause the recharging system to terminate charging the battery when the amount of stored energy in the battery is the difference between the maximum energy storage capacity of the battery and the amount of the vehicle's gravitational potential energy that is recoverable by the regenerative braking system over the route.

8. The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the battery has a maximum energy storage capacity; and

wherein the controller is configured to cause the recharging system to terminate charging the battery when the amount of stored energy in the battery is the larger of (1) the difference between the maximum energy storage capacity of the battery and the amount of the vehicle's gravitational potential energy that is recoverable by the regenerative braking system over the route, and (2) a predetermined minimum energy storage amount.

9. The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the amount of the vehicle's gravitational potential energy that is recoverable by the regenerative braking system by measuring a gain in the energy stored by the battery when the vehicle travels the route.

10. The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the amount of the vehicle's gravitational potential energy that is recoverable by the regenerative braking system by traversing the route while the battery is fully charged, and estimating the amount of energy that the regenerative braking system would have generated and transmitted to the battery over the route if the battery had not been fully charged.

11. The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the route has a starting location and an ending location;

wherein the battery has a maximum energy storage capacity;

wherein the controller is configured to determine the amount of the vehicle's gravitational potential energy that is recoverable by the regenerative braking system by iteratively charging the battery at the starting location to store a predetermined amount of energy and measuring the amount of energy stored by the battery at the ending location; and

wherein the predetermined amount of energy is reduced in each successive charging until the amount of energy in the battery at the ending location is less than the maximum energy storage capacity of the battery.

12. The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the route has a starting location and an ending location; and

wherein the controller is configured to determine the amount of the vehicle's gravitational potential energy that is recoverable by the regenerative braking system by determining the gravitational potential energy of the starting location relative to the ending location using a database.

13. The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the route includes a starting location; and

wherein the controller is configured to determine the amount of the vehicle's gravitational potential energy that is recoverable by the regenerative braking system by measuring the amount of energy used by the vehicle to travel the route to the starting location.

14. A method for use with a vehicle having a rechargeable battery and a regenerative braking system configured to selectively transmit energy to the battery, the method comprising:

determining the amount of the vehicle's gravitational potential energy that is recoverable by the regenerative braking system over a predicted route;

charging the battery; and

terminating charging the battery when the amount of energy stored by the battery is sufficiently less than the maximum energy storage capacity of the battery such that the battery can accommodate the amount of the vehicle's gravitational potential energy that is recoverable by the regenerative braking system over the predicted route.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein said determining the amount of the vehicle's gravitational potential energy that is recoverable by the regenerative braking system includes measuring a gain in the energy stored by the battery when the vehicle travels the route.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein said determining the amount of the vehicle's gravitational potential energy that is recoverable by the regenerative braking system includes traversing the route while the battery is fully charged, and estimating the amount of energy that the regenerative braking system would have generated and transmitted to the battery over the route if the battery had not been fully charged.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the battery has a maximum energy storage capacity;

wherein said determining the amount of the vehicle's gravitational potential energy that is recoverable by the regenerative braking system includes iteratively charging the battery at the starting location of the route to store a predetermined amount of energy and measuring the amount of energy stored by the battery at the end of the route;

wherein the predetermined amount of energy is reduced in each successive charging until the amount of energy in the battery at the end of the route is less than the maximum energy storage capacity of the battery.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein said determining the amount of the vehicle's gravitational potential energy that is recoverable by the regenerative braking system includes determining the gravitational potential energy of the starting location of the route using a database.

19. The method of claim 14 , wherein said determining the amount of the vehicle's gravitational potential energy that is recoverable by the regenerative braking system includes measuring the amount of energy used by the vehicle to travel to the starting location of the route.

20. A vehicle comprising:

a battery;

a recharging system operatively connected to the battery and configured to selectively charge the battery by transmitting energy thereto;

a regenerative braking system configured to selectively receive energy from an offboard source and operatively connected to the battery to selectively transmit energy thereto; and

a controller operatively connected to the recharging system and configured to control the recharging system;

wherein the controller is configured to determine an amount of the vehicle's gravitational potential energy that is recoverable by the regenerative braking system over a predicted route; and

wherein the controller is configured to control the recharging system such that the amount of energy transferred from the recharging system to the battery is based on the amount of the vehicle's gravitational potential energy that is recoverable by the regenerative braking system over the predicted route.