JohnOver
Well-known member
I think that most of us don't use the LEAF's cruise control because if you are traveling over any kind of hills, you can do better by dropping speed on the climb and picking up speed on the descent. As we all know (or should know) it's better to not have used energy from the battery, than to have to put some back. The round-trip efficiency in/out of the battery is much debated here on the MNL forum, but realistically is probably no better than 50%.
Volvo trucks now have an intelligent cruise control system, called "I-See" that does not try to hold one speed. It operates like we do, speeding up on the downhill and slowing down on the uphill. This system is touted as improving fuel efficiency by 5% without recovering any of the vehicles kinetic energy.
Here's a link to an article on the system: http://www.nelsonpub.com/cms/dfx/opens/article-view-dfx.php?nid=4&bid=162&et=featurearticle&pn=04.
Volvo trucks now have an intelligent cruise control system, called "I-See" that does not try to hold one speed. It operates like we do, speeding up on the downhill and slowing down on the uphill. This system is touted as improving fuel efficiency by 5% without recovering any of the vehicles kinetic energy.
Here's a link to an article on the system: http://www.nelsonpub.com/cms/dfx/opens/article-view-dfx.php?nid=4&bid=162&et=featurearticle&pn=04.