In automotive networking applications, data about vehicle's environment is used in conjunction with a control policy to manage the performance and power usage of a networked device. The control policy can dynamically adjust the balance between link power and performance of the device's communications interface by taking into account the vehicles current situation and user preferences, e.g. location, destination, speed, and sensor status. In at least one disclosed implementation, controlling the balance between link power and performance of networked devices is important in maximizing power savings without unacceptably decreasing network performance.