Route-based propulsion mode control for multimodal vehicles

1. A method of operating a multimodal vehicle as it travels along a route, comprising the steps of:

(a) determining at a remote facility using external data a vehicle route between a starting point and an ending point, wherein the external data is interpreted by a computer and used by that computer to create the vehicle route in the form of data capable of being wirelessly transmitted to the vehicle;

(b) establishing at the remote facility one or more waypoints along the determined vehicle route based on the external data and embedding the waypoints as part of the vehicle route using the computer;

(c) including along with the determined vehicle route an instruction executable by a processor on the vehicle to change a propulsion mode of the vehicle at each of the one or more waypoints; and

(d) wirelessly sending the determined vehicle route and the instruction from the remote facility to the vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the starting point and ending point further comprises one or more of: a latitude and longitude coordinate pair, a street address, or a point of interest.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein step (b) further comprises establishing the one or more waypoints at least partially on a non-topographical attribute of the vehicle route.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein step (b) further comprises identifying the topography of the vehicle route and establishing the one or more waypoints based on the identified topography.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the topography of the vehicle route further comprises the amount of change in elevation relative to the distance between two points along the vehicle route.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein step (b) further comprises establishing a waypoint along the vehicle route when the rate of change in elevation per distance travelled exceeds a threshold.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein step (c) further comprises the step of overriding a default propulsion mode instruction of the vehicle.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein step (c) further comprises the step of advancing or retarding a default propulsion mode instruction of the vehicle.

9. A method of operating a multimodal vehicle as it travels along a route, comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving a computer-readable request from a vehicle telematics unit for a vehicle route at a remotely-located facility;

(b) associating the computer-readable request at the remotely-located facility with a telematics service provider, a vehicle, or a powertrain configuration, wherein the association is accomplished using computing resources located at the remotely-located facility or computing resources accessible by the remotely-located facility;

(c) creating a vehicle route using the computing resources based on the association of step (b);

(d) identifying at least one topographical feature of the determined vehicle route using the computing resources; and

(e) including a computer-readable instruction in the vehicle route to change a propulsion mode of the vehicle based on the one or more topographical features.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein step (c) further comprises creating the vehicle route using starting and ending points provided by a vehicle occupant.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein step (c) comprises creating the vehicle route in real time based on vehicle movement.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising the step of establishing one or more waypoints along the created vehicle route based on the topography of the vehicle route; and wherein step (e) further comprises changing the propulsion mode at one or more of the waypoints.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein step (e) further comprises the step of overriding a default propulsion mode instruction of the vehicle.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein step (e) further comprises the step of advancing or retarding a default propulsion mode instruction of the vehicle.

15. A method of operating a multimodal vehicle as it travels along a route, comprising the steps of:

(a) sending a vehicle route request from a vehicle telematics unit to a vehicle call center, wherein the vehicle route request is created using a processor carried by the vehicle;

(b) generating a vehicle route based on the vehicle route request using computing resources located at a remotely-located facility or computing resources accessible by the remotely-located facility;

(c) identifying the topography of the generated vehicle route using the computing resources;

(d) establishing one or more waypoints along the generated route by including one or more computer-readable instructions in the vehicle route based on the identified topography;

(e) sending the generated vehicle route, which includes the one or more waypoints, to the vehicle telematics unit; and

(f) when the vehicle reaches the one or more waypoints, signaling the vehicle propulsion system of the vehicle to change operating modes based on the computer-readable instructions; and

(g) changing an operational mode of the vehicle propulsion system independent of the one or more waypoints when the rate of change in elevation per distance travelled exceeds a threshold as detected by vehicle electronics.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the vehicle route further comprises a starting point and an ending point.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the starting point or ending point further comprises one or more of: a latitude and longitude coordinate pair, a street address, or a point of interest.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein step (f) further comprises the step of overriding a default propulsion mode instruction of the vehicle.

19. The method of claim 15 , wherein step (f) further comprises the step of advancing or retarding a default propulsion mode instruction of the vehicle.