The present invention relates to a method of determining the probability that a statistical model describes the driving style or usage of a vehicle observed. By identifying an appropriate statistical model, the driving style can be detected and vehicle operation can be optimized. The method may be applied to both hybrid and non-hybrid vehicles. The method may also be augmented to determine the most probable statistical model of the usage of the vehicle. This allows detection of driving styles that can be classified as urban, highway, aggressive, etc. For example, the augmented method can be used to distinguish between highway and urban driving with a very high certainty.