As requirements related to vehicle fuel economy and emissions continue to increase, automakers are developing complex hybrid powertrain control systems to meet these requirements. With the increase in powertrain complexity and performance requirements of a hybrid vehicle, embedded control systems have become an integral part of these vehicles. A hybrid’s ability to recapture energy normally lost as heat during braking situations can account for an increase in efficiency of up to 28%. This study explores the use of a grade adaptive regeneration strategy for improving a hybrid vehicle’s energy recapture capability. The concept of the grade adaptive regeneration strategy was developed using a computer aided simulation model and then implemented on the Mississippi State University Challenge X hybrid vehicle. The real-time performance of the system was evaluated through chassis dynamometer and on-road tests. Substantial improvements over the native hybrid control strategy, including fuel-economy and energy recapture, have been achieved.