Abstract: Various teachings herein include a method of operating a vehicle comprising a combustion engine, an electric motor, and an electrically heated catalyst. The method includes: simultaneously evaluating energy consumption and emissions due to increasing or decreasing catalyst heating actions and due to increasing or decreasing electric motor torque based on an operating model; and determining an operating mode for each of the combustion engine, electric motor, and electrically heatable catalyst using the operating model to optimize operation based on an optimization goal.

Abstract: Various embodiments include methods for determining the efficiency of an SCR catalytic converter in a system including a nitrogen oxide sensor, and a metering device for a reducing agent arranged in an exhaust-gas duct, and an exhaust recirculation line with a recirculation valve disposed downstream of the SCR catalytic converter and feeding an intake region of the engine. The methods comprise: setting or identifying a quasi-steady-state operating state and an associated recirculation rate; adding a first quantity of reducing agent using the metering device; measuring a resulting first nitrogen oxide value using the sensor; adding a further predefined quantity, different from the first quantity; measuring the resulting nitrogen oxide values using the sensor; and determining the efficiency of the SCR catalytic converter based at least in part on the associated exhaust-gas recirculation rate and the measured nitrogen oxide values.

Abstract: Various embodiments include methods for determining the efficiency of an SCR catalytic converter in a system including a nitrogen oxide sensor, and a metering device for a reducing agent arranged in an exhaust-gas duct, and an exhaust recirculation line with a recirculation valve disposed downstream of the SCR catalytic converter and feeding an intake region of the engine. The methods comprise: setting or identifying a quasi-steady-state operating state and an associated recirculation rate; adding a first quantity of reducing agent using the metering device; measuring a resulting first nitrogen oxide value using the sensor; adding a further predefined quantity, different from the first quantity; measuring the resulting nitrogen oxide values using the sensor; and determining the efficiency of the SCR catalytic converter based at least in part on the associated exhaust-gas recirculation rate and the measured nitrogen oxide values.