Add Another Driving Mode

[Don]

As good as it is to get some regen, basically regen is braking, and braking means you used too much energy in the first place if you need to slow your car down.

Of course, that is a statement for a perfect world, but sometimes we need to accelerate more to stay up with traffic, or are forced to decelerate quickly.

The real rule in conserving power for improved mpg, be it gas or electric, is drive like you have no brakes (and in our cases, like you have no regen to slow the car either).

Yes

When regen is enabled (and we have it to some degree no matter the driving mode selected) then being 'wiggly-footed' on the pedal is going to cost you because you may be braking even when you don't want to and regen is never 100% efficient - You don't get back as much energy slowing as you used getting up to speed

As Joe says, ideally having no regen at all at freeway speeds would be a plus I think. A software revision which disables all regen at speeds above 45 or 50 would certainly yield a longer freeway range I suspect. Maybe when the hackers get to working on this thing, such changes will be possible

Don

 

[Don]

Joe,

It appears Mitsu had quite a time deciding which driving modes to offer

At one time, they did have exactly what you've proposed - A 'Coast' mode (they had a C on the shifter, but they called it the 'comfort' mode) in the place of the Eco mode that we eventually got. The C mode dialed back regen even more than D mode does, to get better economy when taking longer, suburban drives . . . . and presumably on the freeway as well

"Intelligent Driving Modes

The Mitsubishi i-MiEV has three driving modes, marked D, B, and C on the gearshift panel. D mode is for urban driving, tuned for maximum energy efficiency; B mode increases regenerative braking during downhill driving for increased energy capture and efficiency; and C mode decreases regenerative braking for smoother driving characteristics on longer drives.

Then, they went to the Eco mode where motor output was limited to about half of normal power - They must have made several cars equipped like this, as I've read a dozen reviews or more where the drivers commented that in Eco the car could barely get out of it's own way. Apparently at the last moment, they scrapped that idea and instead gave us an Eco mode which basically has no purpose at all - The car accelerates much as it does in any other mode, but has more regen than D but less than B

Incidently, I've also read that there was originally going to be just a 10.5 Kw battery in the base model, plus several other omissions that they eventually decided to include in both models

One day . . . . I predict we will be able to reprogram the driving modes more to what we'd like to have . . . . likely a software change is all it will take

Don

 

[NeilBlanchard]

Joe,

I really like your idea. Of course in your proposed 'H' mode, all the regen could be put onto the brake pedal. Which is really where it belongs anyway, in my opinion, since it is for slowing the car down.

 

[MLucas]

The cars sold in the UK are label D B & C.

http://www.mitsubishi-cars.co.uk/imiev/technology.aspx

Click on the transmission and the driving modes tabs on the lower left side of this page.

The MCU is software programmable just like the ones that can be bought off the shelf. We just don't have the cable, the program or the instructions on how to do it. I'm sure someday some smart guys will hack into this and figure it out and we'll be able to reprogram the driving modes to our liking.

 

[tonymil]

I feel the need to stand up for Eco mode. After reading others' posts, I decided to try driving in B mode, it just didn't work for me. I guess I used to be a leadfoot, but I just can't apply a light touch to the gas pedal in B mode. Keeping that power meter below the first white line was a challenge. Eco mode makes it much easier to not accelerate hard and over-consume power. And if you need the extra boost, it's easy enough to either step on the pedal or even just shift up or down to D or B mode. So I hope Mitsu keeps Eco mode in future models.

On a slightly different note, some have reported that what mode your in affects power consumption even when your not accelerating/decelerating. This makes no sense to me. D, B and Eco vary how the car accelerates and decelerates because people have different habits and likes - as the variety of opinions in this very topic prove. But driving at a steady speed does not involve personal choice or habit. Steady speed is steady speed. It would make no sense for Mitsu to program one mode to drive more efficiently at a steady speed than a different mode. All three modes should be equally efficient at steady speeds unless Mitsu really screwed things up. I think (hope) the differences people are experiencing are due to other factors; wind, traffic, etc.

 

[Brian]

I've noticed that once I get the car to the desired speed and it doesn't matter what speed it is, it seems the amp meter hovers near that Eco label. Can someone explain why this is?

The three modes have an effect on acceleration/deceleration. The modes don't matter too much when it comes to maintaining a speed over level terrain. And it takes less energy to maintain a speed than to achieve that speed. To use an internal combustion engine analogy, think of what RMP's are required to accelerate up to a given speed. When that speed is reached, the driver can ease off the accelerator to maintain the speed. If a car is at 3000 rpms to accelerate to 40 mph, but the rpms are not reduced when the speed is reached, then the car will keep accelerating. Easing off the accelerator is equivalent the needle being in the Eco range.