dmacarthur said:
I wish that regenerative braking was adjustable- this could not be too hard to accomplish- variable from zero to the max available at any given time. Epedal seems silly to me since it basically applies the brakes afer using all the available regen.....
Not sure if more adjustment is needed.
D; lowest level No friction braking
B; High level (up to 38 KW) No friction braking.
E Pedal; Variable up to 60 KW with friction braking
There has always been a question of how much friction braking is involved when E Pedal is engaged
What we know;
At very
high SOC (when all regen pips are
not available) E Pedal uses friction brakes "immediately" to imitate normal E Pedal driving.
With full regen available, E Pedal uses friction braking sparingly likely only at very low speeds.
As far as how best to use the options; That question is not really answerable. We all have unique driving situations combined with how we like to drive. If you want the ultimate in efficiency, you need steady power. IOW; as little regen as possible and NO friction braking at all; Yeah, that means NO stopping.
Back in the day; one of the biggest efficiency challenges was driving from the Olympia waterfront at the Boardwalk, thru downtown, all the way to Lacey without stopping. The real challenge was how fast to drive in order to time the lights (they are at EVERY block thru most of downtown. ) but I had help. The crosswalk signal had countdown timers so you knew when the light was going to change. Believe it or not, you could drive a steady speed and hit all the lights green EASILY... that is as long as there was no traffic (not a reality)
My goal was 40 mpg in my Prius (it was all uphill) so steady speed was paramount since most of you know that the Prius regen level was nearly nonexistent compared to an EV. It was this driving style that parlays into the greatest efficiency numbers on an EV.
So I use E Pedal for every full stop (I almost never touch the brake pedal) Normally drive in B mode and yeah, will coast a half block up to a light at 5 mph if I have to. People behind me hate it and I don't really know why. Going faster only means a longer wait at the light??
If coming up to a light at speed and it changes I shift to E Pedal for a few seconds to slow down rapidly but will always shift back to B (if I have room) as speed drops below 20-30 mph. Generally if going 40 mph and I have a block to go, B mode is enough to bring me to a near stop.
Finally
Someone has suggested that extensive E Pedal could be accelerating wear on the pack due to high currents (I clocked currents up to 180 amps which is 50% higher than EVgo puts out) and I can say I guess that is possible but the short duration of these events says that the damage will have to be repeated hundreds of thousands of time before any real damage is done. But again, we go back to the statement at the top; steady speed with minimal regen and no friction braking.