Regen is Zoe is automatic. Lift off regen is low, maybe 18kw max. As you depress the brake pedal regen increases up to 43kw (depending on SOC). In emergency braking Regen isn't applied and its all mechanical braking. This reall is how it should be for all cars. Simple, effective!

 

I can only speak for the Leaf, to me the regen is a bit weak, would prefer it a bit stronger, but as far as I can tell there is no adjustment, so it is what it is.

Still a great car though.

 

30kW of regen seems plenty to me, it's enough to often make me wish Nissan had added brake lights when above, say, 20kW.

 

Golf GTE: regen is not active by default. Driving in the default D(rive) mode, regen is 0, which makes the more efficient coasting possible. There is an additional B mode, which simulates the braking effect of an ICE and activates a constant amount of regen. This is not a one pedal driving though, but very useful when going down a steep hill.

Every time that you brake, first the regen comes on and decelerates. If regen is not enough or in an emergency, the mechanical brakes are activated.

 

Leaf has both "D" (low regen) and "B" (more regen). You can adjust how much regen you get up to the maximum by both lifting progressively off the accelerator and the early travel of the brake. Could do with having more regen for my taste - but it's not bad. You can *almost* drive just by adjusting the accelerator with only occasional use of the brake (in "B" mode).

 

Agreed jmac, it's ok on the Leaf, just would prefer a little more.

 

The i3 only has one mode. It gives a lot of regen if you take your foot right off the accelerator - and yes, the brake lights have come on well before then. Very different from an ICE, but easy to adapt to. I normally drive it as if it was a one pedal car and I only use the friction brakes when I misjudge what the regen can do.

Quantifying the maximum regen is harder, but it seems to be able to exceed 50kW.

 

I only use the friction brakes when I misjudge what the regen can do.

Even if you use the foot brake the i3 will still try and use more aggressive regen before it eventually uses the physical brake.

 

Ampera, D is like a regular auto, L is one pedal driving, but it does have creep (designed to appeal to Americans who are used to auto) so you have to use the friction brakes for the last stop at a junction, unless up hill.

I drive everywhere in L

 

problem with the leaf is it seems to lift the regen as you slow down, so the regen at >20mph is great, but below that you have an often uneasy switch to braking which I'd prefer not to have to do. I want the regen to go all the way down to stop.

Which means no creep.

It actually happened by accident on a hill the other day, purely by chance because the creep == the incline. That's what I want all the time.

...and apparently that's what the elusive leaf v2 does. Dodgem mode.

 

One of the 'features' of making an EV with a gear shift like an automatic, the designers assume you want automatic style creep...

I've driven a lot of auto's and I don't mind it, but it would be nice to have it in software

 

Tesla allow you to turn creep on/off which is nice.

 

I drive both a Zoe and a Peugeot Partner. The Zoe, as mentioned is fully automatic and just 'works', drive and forget, infact the Zoe has auto light, wipers, heater, so just steer it! The Peugeot has much heavier regen which I like (the wife doesn't) and means I can drive with just one pedal and rarely use the brakes unless holding at a stop. Both have a fake 'auto creep' when in drive but again I like this as it makes low speed maneuvers, reversing and parking a doddle.

It all boils down to person preference and I would recommend test driving a selection of both.

 

Kangoo has no settings, strong regen all the time which does activate the brake lights.

Ampera as HughF said has stronger regen in L but no brake lights, which I find problematic. D is like a normal car with light regen.

 

Thanks folks. Any other model owners, please keep any info coming!

 

Tesla: all thrust and regen are on the same pedal. Push down pedal to go faster, release to slow down, hold somewhere in the middle to maintain speed. Regen amount tapers off as you slow down so you generally need the friction brake to stop completely.

Two settings high and low, but I’ve never heard of anyone using low except in arcane circumstances like on a track day.

 

I was thinking that the low regen setting would be good if you were hyper-miling. Other than that, it may make for a smoother ride if you’re chauffeuring or similar.

I need to do some trialling of this theory.

 

Before I move on to regen, may I make an important point. Even more important than regen in a BEV is the ability to coast. This is because any conversion process suffers an efficiency loss. So when you regenerate, you don't recuperate 100% of the kinetic energy. The efficiency rate is more like 90%. On the other hand if you are on a dual carriageway at 70 mph and want to reduce speed for a roundabout ahead, it is more energy-efficient to coast to a slower speed and brake as necessary at the end. Don't forget applying the foot brake causes regeneration too.

Given the above, I like the system on the VW e-up and e Golf, which gives progressive choices from coasting through 4 levels of regeneration. In contrast I really disliked my test drives on the BMW i3. Your choice there is either 'go' or heavy regen braking with nothing in between.

In more detail, with VW if you stay in the basic Drive mode ("D"), you can coast when you lift your foot off the accelerator pedal and will regenerate when you apply the foot brake. I find this best for free flowing cross country driving.

If, on the other hand, you are in urban traffic, you may want to use one of the regen modes:
D1 is pretty gentle and doesn't activate the brake lights.
D2 and D3 are progressively heavier and are strong enough to cause the brake lights to come on.
B mode is the strongest regen and feels like the equivalent to switching to low gear going down a steep hill. Personally I use B only for steep descents but others like to use it in stop go town traffic.

Obviously this is all a matter of personal taste. No doubt other members with love the regen settings on the BEVs of their choice.

 

The A3 e-tron has no default regen, but is great at coasting

I actually quite like that. When you release the accelerator, the car just keeps on going. When in ICE mode on the motorway, you release the accelerator for 3 seconds, and the car just switches the engine off for 3 seconds, with very little loss of speed.

A somewhat clever use of regen by the car is similar to engine brake when going downhill. I found it impressive on a French motorway when the car showed regen happening at 80 MPH. Usually, it's just limiting to very little acceleration when going downhill.

Regen mostly happens when pressing the brake pedal. It's not very strong though.I rather like how it works, but would like to be able to get higher regen when braking harder. I guess the small battery pack is somewhat limiting that, but seeing the acceleration on pure elctricity being quite decent, I'm surprised the braking can't be as good.

 

The A3 e-tron has no default regen, but is great at coasting
surprised the braking can't be as good.

Not quite the whole story. In EV mode as you say, only regen is either to lightly cover the brake pedel, OR, move the gear selector to the side (manual mode). This puts on regen and slows the car (or holds it on downhill) and in manual mode the car will still change down normally (semi-auto??). In Hybrid Auto and Hold, its the same. In Hybrid Sport however, regen is enabled. That makes for one pedal driving. (It may be regen has been made non default so you use the brakes more - I hear the rear brakes are prone to seizing due to disuse???

 

th v60 phev seems to regen whilst coasting, it feels like it doesn't slow the car at all unlike our leaf.

regens heavily when breaking, and I've noticed often slight regen when very light coasting even in traffic jams, down steep hills, mountain roads really, if you pop energy save and it's less than half full the ice wheels being pulled by gravity and the rear regen on the back makes for some impressive regen! Although very rare you get to use that.

I'm surprised how often on the motorway i see the engine kick out while i assume coasting along and the dash to bubble slightly to show regen.

forcible regen thru brakes, brakes using e motor then using friction breaks only if the e motor doesn't provide enough breaking, unlike the leaf it also regens at very low speeds thru the brakes. At near stop you feel an ever so slight bump as the friction brakes forcefully stop the motor, its very very minor, but it's enough to annoy me a little, wish it didn't creep like a tradtional auto, never understood why you can't disable creep ☹

 

The Ioniq has 4 levels, controlled by the paddles.

0 - None
1 - Gentle, about 1 mph a second. No brake lights
2 - Strong - 60 down to 20 in no time. No brake lights
3 - Savage. Stops you nigh on dead in no time. Brake lights definitely come on, thank goodness.

I've got pretty adept at using them after a couple of months. It won’t stop the car completely, but will slow me enough to do a 90 degree turn off a dual carriageway onto a B Road without needing to touch the brakes at all.

It also has an "Auto Hold" button, allowing you to null creep so that when you stop dead you are effectively in Park. Foot down and off you go without needing to touch the gear selector.

 

My B250e works similar to the Zoe as described above i think. When driving, lifting off the pedal gives some regen, and it varies depending on road speed. I suspect theres a legal limit of allowed regen/decelleration WITHOUT activating the brake lights, and so the car follows that limit. You certainly see the guage on the dash doesnt go round to full regen, and tapers off as the speed falls.

Lightly applying the brake pedal adds more regen upto the max available then the friction brakes come in. Sometimes you feel a slight pulsing when lightly braking at city speeds, i presume as the brake torque request is modulating between regen and mechanical brakes.

Higher spec B250's have a paddle setting which allows it to be changed between a few other modes, so you can reduce the regen and coast more, or turn it up higher. It also has a radar mode, where if it detects you catching a slower moving car while in regen mode, it'll ramp up the regen in order to slow you down faster. Mine doesnt have any of that though.

 

In contrast I really disliked my test drives on the BMW i3. Your choice there is either 'go' or heavy regen braking with nothing in between.

The i3 will coast, you just have to learn where in the accelerator pedal range you need to keep your foot. The power display goes into a neutral position showing that it is neither drawing from the battery nor charging from regen. It definately takes a couple of days to get used to it and ECO pro mode is easier in this regard as opposed to comfort mode as the acceleration mapping is less aggressive. You either love or hate the i3’s one pedal driving - most owners love it (I guess you would be if you bought the car), but I’d be interested to see how it compares to the version in the new leaf.

 

The Ioniq has 4 levels, controlled by the paddles.

0 - None
1 - Gentle, about 1 mph a second. No brake lights
2 - Strong - 60 down to 20 in no time. No brake lights
3 - Savage. Stops you nigh on dead in no time. Brake lights definitely come on, thank goodness.
.

3 sounds a bit dodgy !

 

First Draft explains the Ioniq system very well, and I use the paddles quite often on downhills to control speed and regeneration. Position 3 is strong, but very good. It is not an emergency braking experience, just a good forceful slowing brake.
On my previous car a plug in Prius. Regeneration only starts when you fully release the accelerator pedal. It is fixed to simulate an ice retarding in top gear. You then have one extra position B for added regeneration braking for downhill use mainly.
The Ioniq though adds the regeneration to the accelerator pedal, increasing the regeneration as you ease off the pedal, almost giving single pedal driving in position 3 of regeneration.

 

i must admit I'm not a fan of this idea od single pedal driving, on a long journey i can imagine many cars seemingly emergency stop on the motorway as someone relaxes their foot. although for city driving it sounds amazing, i suppose cruise control on the motorway still allows you to take your foot off and give it a wiggle mind!

its interesting how different regen works on different cars, seems more of a mess than charging! At least it has no negative effect on actually using the car

 

i must admit I'm not a fan of this idea od single pedal driving, on a long journey i can imagine many cars seemingly emergency stop on the motorway as someone relaxes their foot.

I wouldn't knock it until you try it! On the i3 it's also speed sensitive - so if you are on a motorway you don't slow down at the same rate as you would at 30mph. Once you get used to it, it becomes second nature and you also learn how to read the road to anticipate when to lift off the acceleration and let the regen kick in. the first couple of days can be fairly unnerving though!

 

Because of the variety in braking, coupled with various driving conditions, say motorways, country A roads, and urban driving with plenty of space or high congestion, you really need to experiment and find what suits best for you.

 

For my 13 reg Gen 2 (24kWh) Leaf, Max regen power is 30kW, which is achieved by taking right foot off the accelerator pedal above 60mph in D mode, and above 40mph in B mode, and achieved above 20mph if the brake pedal is touched.

Below the above speeds the regen on lifting off appears to give a fixed deceleration (for B mode about 0.1g, or maintaining constant speed on a 10% descent) - it could be limited to this to avoid having to put the brake lights on.

With a full or nearly full battery, the max regen power is limited to prevent too much power being put back into the battery - with a warm battery full regen can be obtained at 95% SOC, but on a cold frosty morning (especially if the car was not charged overnight) full regen may not be available until the battery is as low as 60% SOC.

 

I like the variable Regen on the V60 controlled through the brake pedal. I find the feed in of friction vs electric braking pretty much undetectable, and the only real way of telling how much electric braking is taking place is watch the digital readout on the dash. Coast also seems to operate with the same effectiveness, especially when using radar cruise with a decent distance between you and the next car. It makes for both a relaxed and economic driving experience.