What is the cutout level of the battery for regen?

[Zootjeff]

I tried to search for this but didn't find anything. At what charge level down from 100% will regenerative braking kick in? How much below 100% do you need to be before regenerative braking will engage?

I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually but does anyone know the official spec on this?

I have a 2013 SL with 300 miles on it. I live on a hill and if I charge to 100 to go on a long trip, then coming down my hill the B mode does nothing. My dash does have the battery % meter on the trip meter console so I plan to watch next time, but I might miss it.. So does anyone know? Is it 98%? 95%? 90% (as specified by that console meter level)? Given that I am always going to go down that hill I'm going to likely try to find a way to reliably charge to that level, and I did find some forum topics on that but no good solutions and no actual target.

I'm surprised that this isn't just built into the buffer of the 24kWh Li-ion capacity that Nissan provisioned for..

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[TomT]

It varies based on a number of parameters such as temperature and phase of the moon, but 80% charge is a safe bet for a reasonable amount of regen...

I tried to search for this but didn't find anything. At what charge level down from 100% will regenerative braking kick in? How much below 100% do you need to be before regenerative braking will engage?

 

[Zootjeff]

It varies based on a number of parameters such as temperature and phase of the moon, but 80% charge is a safe bet for a reasonable amount of regen...

Yaa, I know it's not 80%.. If no one knows, I'll post my findings..

 

[Turnover]

I agree it is about the 80% level that noticeable regeneration kicks in. After charge level, the shape of the hill and speed seem to play a part. Regen can really work for you in both slowing you down without braking and extending your range. A great place to play with this is Mt. Hood. For example if you go from the Ski Bowl West charger to Timberline (uphill) you get great regen and braking all the way back to Portland/Vancouver, but if you charge up at Ski Bowl and just head back towards Portland/Vancouver your regen and regen braking are lacking until you get close to Sandy Oregon.

 

[TomT]

It depends on how much regen you want and for how long... Thus, there is no one answer, but regen falls off quickly above about 85% SOC and also varies with battery temperature... Battery degradation also plays a role so it will change with the age of the vehicle... Also the 2011/12 is different than the 2013...

Yaa, I know it's not 80%.. If no one knows, I'll post my findings..

 

[DaveEV]

It depends on how much regen you want and for how long... Thus, there is no one answer, but regen falls off quickly above about 85% SOC and also varies with battery temperature...

It also varies with vehicle speed (high speeds and low speeds will reduce available regen, with the most being available around 20 mph) and battery age (the more the battery ages, the less regen is available).

For a new LEAF in temps of 60F+, you should what appears to be full regen at around 80% SOC which will be gradually reduced to zero regen at 100% SOC.

 

[abasile]

Even around 60-80% SOC, regen falls off if sustained for a while, like on a mountain descent. If your hill is 1000' high, or if the battery is cold, you might notice this. Slowing down helps; for some odd reason (I think it's a bug and I despise it), the LEAF allows more regen at slower speeds, down to about 20 mph.

If you need to leave the hill with a high SOC, then you'll have to use the friction brakes at least some.

 

[Zootjeff]

I just did a test. I started out at 100% in my neighborhood 99% at the top of my hill.
Put in B mode.
1 regen bar all the way down the hill at 99%
Then I got 2 regen bars at 97% 3 regen bars at 95% and all 4 bars once it got to 93%.

When I come down my hill I normally regen from 79 to 81%. So I guess the answer I was looking for was ~92%

All of my numbers were tested in B mode around 35mph.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

I tried to search for this but didn't find anything. At what charge level down from 100% will regenerative braking kick in? How much below 100% do you need to be before regenerative braking will engage?

I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually but does anyone know the official spec on this?

I have a 2013 SL with 300 miles on it. I live on a hill and if I charge to 100 to go on a long trip, then coming down my hill the B mode does nothing. My dash does have the battery % meter on the trip meter console so I plan to watch next time, but I might miss it.. So does anyone know? Is it 98%? 95%? 90% (as specified by that console meter level)? Given that I am always going to go down that hill I'm going to likely try to find a way to reliably charge to that level, and I did find some forum topics on that but no good solutions and no actual target.

I'm surprised that this isn't just built into the buffer of the 24kWh Li-ion capacity that Nissan provisioned for..

Thanks,

Jeff

roughly, i would say about 92-93 % SOC for full regen. and that applies to a 2013

on a 2011 with the SW update, I would say about...oh 25-30% SOC for full regen?

**rdit** well this pix turned out much worse than I thought but what you may or may not be able to see is trip a; reset daily at 1.8 miles, 12 charge bars, and all regen circles available.

what you cant see is SOC at 92 %

 

[jjgilham]

I just did a test. I started out at 100% in my neighborhood 99% at the top of my hill.
Put in B mode.
1 regen bar all the way down the hill at 99%
Then I got 2 regen bars at 97% 3 regen bars at 95% and all 4 bars once it got to 93%.

When I come down my hill I normally regen from 79 to 81%. So I guess the answer I was looking for was ~92%

All of my numbers were tested in B mode around 35mph.

I have a 2013 (4.5K miles) and I think my results are very similar to Zootjeff's. I think I will rerun this test a litttle more carefully and report after I've collected some data.

I live at the top of a 400 foot hill but have a long commute so I like to charge to 100% but it kills me to friction brake down the hill in the morning. When I'm not it a rush I drive an alternate route which takes a little longer but I get the hill after I'm down to 90% and I get good regen (nearly full?).

If I could I'd set the charger to charge to 92% so I'd get nearly maximum range but still get good regen for my morning hill. This seems like a really obvious feature but it does not appear to be supported. I'm tempted by the 80% charge feature but it cuts it a little close if I have to run errands.