dgpcolorado
Well-known member
As others have alluded, the regen on 2011/2012 models is pretty mild and had odd quirks, such as lower regen at high speeds than low speeds, which is truly bizarre. Then a software change (P3227) to improve the battery capacity measurements made the regen far worse.treinjapan said:How has this changed since the "R" mode or whatever was released in recent models? Are you disappointed with the regen just because it doesn't compare to other electric cars? Or because it doesn't appear to keep the battery up even though you're supposedly "regening" a lot?
For flatlanders regen may be no big deal. For those of us who descend steep hills, the lack of regen means riding the friction brakes down the hill, because there is no engine compression to use to slow down, as on an ICE car. This problem has been fixed on the 2013 SV/SL models, so don't assume that because regen on a 2013 is decent that the lack of it on older models is a figment of our imaginations. (I'm beginning to get really annoyed at 2013 model owners who assume that because their regen is fine, the regen on 2011/2012 models must be the same.)
And, for the record, in ordinary driving if you use regen a lot you aren't driving efficiently; coasting, where practical, is much more efficient.
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On topic: I was surprised to find out how quickly the LEAF battery degraded, even in my cool climate, so that is the thing I dislike the most. I was expecting the range to decrease but not so quickly. If we had public L2 charge stations around here it would be little more than a nuisance, but that's my problem since the car wasn't designed for use where I live and I knew that when I bought it.
The other big problem was the lack of a heater-off button but I fixed that with Phil's climate control unit mod. I fixed the visor problem with a piece of cardboard that works really well and cost nothing. The thin carpet is irrelevant because I have rubber floor mats to deal with snow and mud, a necessity for any car here.
I don't get the horn complaints. I've never used the horn except when accidentally bumping the panic button on the key fob. When I learned to drive in S. California (LA) using the horn was considered rude and a person honking a car horn must be an Easterner. Things sure must have changed in California over the years!