It may not take better batteries to make the next generation of hybrids much more efficient—software may be the answer. Fuel consumption in hybrids is affected by terrain and leveling off the battery’s state of charge, and smart programming can make the most of the existing systems.

The next breakthrough for hybrids, discussed by GM and other hybrid makers, may be to integrate GPS data from built-in navigation systems into the hybrid drivetrain electronics to significantly improve fuel economy. One key to this improvement would require having topographical data from the navigation maps.

As I drove the new Honda Civic Hybrid last week, this point couldn’t have been clearer to me: I happen to live at the top of a hill. A big hill.

As I drove home, I watched my gas mileage plummet on the trip computer as I ascended the hill—every day. This is, of course, true in every car. But what has me scratching my head is that every time I arrive in my driveway with a hybrid, the battery meter reads full, or almost full. In the Civic hybrid, even if it started with a half full battery at the bottom (which seems to happen more or less randomly), it would put an extra load on the engine, burning extra gas, all the way up the hill to charge the battery so it was full at the top. In other words, I’m burning more gas than required to just climb the hill.

This is particularly frustrating since I know, and the car should be able to figure out, that the next time I leave my house, I have no place to go but down. As I nose down the hill, braking lightly, I can initially feel the electric regenerative brakes kick in, mildly slowing the car. But by the time I get to the first curve, even though the hill has flattened out I have to brake harder and can feel the friction brakes at the wheels kick in. The regenerative brakes don’t work because the battery is already full, and there’s no place to store any of the energy the generator creates in braking. Meanwhile, I’ve still got 80 percent of the hill to descend.

This is consistent behavior in the Civic Hybrid. In other hybrids I can sometimes get to the top with only a moderately full battery by flooring the accelerator on the way up to drain the battery, but clearly that doesn’t save gas.

With topographical navigation data, a hybrid powertrain could recognize that I’m going up a short steep hill into a dead end and therefore maximize use of the battery on the way up, knowing it could be recharged on the way down.

The Chevrolet Volt already provides some simulation of this with the Mountain Mode in its transmission. The driver has to select it, since it’s not electronically mapped. But on three large grades in the United States (bonus points to any commenter who can name them) in which the car won’t have the battery capacity to make it all the way up, Mountain Mode will rely more heavily on the engine from the bottom of the grade.

Some automatic transmissions in luxury cars also have software that “learns” what kind of driving you’re doing (based on a preset time period) to use sportier or more efficient shift programs. After a week in a hybrid, I’d think such software ought to be able to learn that I go up this hill (and over lots of other small hills) often, and save me some gas by maximizing use of the hybrid system on my routine commute.

Putting too much drain or charge on the battery admittedly saps battery life, but automakers already build in safeguards for this, and their hybrid systems aren’t even making the most of the battery within their safeguards.

Without the gas-sucking hills I constantly traverse, I’m pretty sure I’d see another 1-2 mpg in my commute. If a hybrid system would only realize that every uphill is followed by a downhill and thus an opportunity to give back the battery charge used for the ascend, the savings could be greater. It is nice to know some automakers are working on it, and in some cases this advanced vehicular intelligence can be added with software alone.