German carmaker Mercedes-Benz has developed a new energy management technology for hybrid vehicles, the Intelligent HYBRID, which is claimed to improve the vehicle's performance and fuel efficiency.
The technology, developed in association with the Mercedes-Benz's Formula 1 racing team, will assess the topography of the route ahead. It benefits from the freely available recuperation energy using electric motor's boost effect.
According to the company, the technology combines synergies from vehicle production as well as racing car technology. It also works when the route guidance system is inactive.
Intelligent HYBRID keeps the high-voltage battery charged sufficiently by automatically boosting combustion engine to discharge when recuperation is available ahead. During this phase, due to the boost from the electric motor, the vehicle uses less fuel and thus produces fewer emissions
The system uses COMAND Online navigation system data to calculate recuperation potential of the road ahead and processes information through the Central Powertrain Controller (CPC), which controls the anticipatory measures.