B-mode for regular driving

[alohart]

I have done many tests and can confirm that rolling down a gentle slope is clearly more efficient in N than trying to stay in neutral zone while in D.

I can not explain why, other that there is some spinning in the engine, maybe some resistance to the cooling liquid ? Not really qualified nor have the data to conclude.

I'm guessing that it's more difficult to position the accelerator so that no electricity flows in or out of the motor when in any drive mode compared with shifting to N where it's guaranteed that no electricity flows in or out of the motor. So trying to coast in any drive mode will almost certainly result in some electricity flowing in and out of the motor. For me, being able to immediately accelerate or brake without shifting is more important that driving with the utmost efficiency.

I would prefer that E mode would coast without regen when the accelerator is lifted so that the brake pedal would control regen totally. Or maybe better would be a switch that would disable regen in any drive mode except when the brake pedal is pushed.

 

[Llecentaur]

Thank you.

I Will try again between neutral position in D and N. Maybe i was not being précise enough.

 

[fjpod]

It takes practice to keep the needle between charge and eco...but it can be done more easily in Eco than in B.

 

[alohart]

But "being précise enough" might be more work than you want to perform while driving. I frequently want to relax more when I drive, so hypermiling or even trying to coast perfectly in B can, at times, feel like something I don't want to do. But I think experience can make coasting in D, E, or B efficiently more automatic, so you learn how to coast well so that doing so isn't as much work.

Shifting to N would be less work but with the added safety risk of being unable to accelerate or regen-brake quickly in an unexpected driving situation. It's the driver's choice.

 

[Don]

Since the shift lever does nothing but disconnect the electrical circuitry, it would be really nice if we just had a button for that . . . . so that we needn't push the 'shifter' back and forth. A paddle on the steering wheel would be ideal . . . . press (or pull) it when you want to coast, release it when you want regen or acceleration. I don't think it would be that complicated to set something up . . . . if we had schematics for the car

Don

 

[aarond12]

. . . if we had schematics for the car . . .

If I had the schematics, I would like to build a push-button shifter like the Fiat 500Ev's shifter. I don't think it would take that much to do... A little 3D printing work, a few switches, maybe a little shift-register logic to keep the car in "gear"...

 

[Vike]

So when I drive this way I am basically all over the place and I'm practically shifting like i used to do in the civic.

But traffic being what it is, practically I spend most of my time in B and E Starting off in B or E to get a gentle start and then modulating the speed with E most of the time and braking in B. I have also found that when I'm driving in E and I need to accelerate quicker instead of pressing the pedal down I switch to D and just hold the pedal at it's current position. It's kind of like a "turbo" mode like the old 386's, then when I'm up to speed I switch back to E to maintain speed all of this without changing the go pedal position.

Maybe after driving a manual transmission for so long I feel I still need to shift or maybe its just me trying to be as efficient as I can just for fun but I find that those are the techniques I use most often with the iMiev.

For reasons already discussed at length in this thread (i.e., the mode selector is a mechanical device providing input to a purely electronic control) I don't think this sort of driving does any harm to the drivetrain. I'm afraid that might not be the case for the shifter itself, however. This car is NOT a manual, and its shifter was not built to be continuously rowed around like a stick shift - it is really just a repurposed auto tranny mode selector, meant primarily for "set and forget" use. My worry would be about prematurely wearing out the moving parts in the mode selector, not damaging the motor or transmission.

It's a pity Mitsubishi couldn't have incorporated a common feature of automatic mode selectors, that little button on the shifter that enables/disables the final overdrive gear. On the i-MiEV, this would have been a handy button for disabling "regen on coast", as described elsewhere in this thread.

 

[Barbagris]

Since the shift lever does nothing but disconnect the electrical circuitry, it would be really nice if we just had a button for that . . . . so that we needn't push the 'shifter' back and forth. A paddle on the steering wheel would be ideal . . . . press (or pull) it when you want to coast, release it when you want regen or acceleration. I don't think it would be that complicated to set something up . . . . if we had schematics for the car

As VW is doing for the e-Golf

Yes, is not in the street, it will in a few months

 

[clovi]

E is my "normal" ride. D is my ride when the "dinner" is on the table and I burn the batteries in 35 miles driving back home. Oh yeah , it is fun!! On this mode, I shift to the E on stop lights and signs.
What you think???
Clovi

 

[MLucas]

E is my "normal" ride. D is my ride when the "dinner" is on the table and I burn the batteries in 35 miles driving back home. Oh yeah , it is fun!! On this mode, I shift to the E on stop lights and signs.
What you think???
Clovi

Shift to B and you'll get better regen. E won't do much for slowing down.

 

[MLucas]

I know there is a lot of complaints about the shifter, but if you give it half a chance its not so bad. I no longer need to look down or at the power meter to see what 'setting' I'm in - I can just feel it. Much like a stick shift. The shifter is actually well designed and the notchy interface helps with the 'no-look' scenario. I found just pushing and pulling the lever is all that is needed to move the selector. Moving the lever to the left wastes time and may cause the lever to move into R or P - probably not something we should do when moving. The pushing/pulling method keeps from going into the wrong selection and helps with 'feeling' for the necessary setting.

 

[fjpod]

remember...whether you slow down by pressing on the brake pedal, or use E or B, you are getting the same thing...a relatively fixed amount of regen. You don't necessarily get "better" regen using B compared to the brake pedal if applied slowly. There is some evidence that the longer you take to slow down, the better the regen will be. So, traffic permitting, a long slowdown with E is probably better than slamming on the brake pedal.

But as I and others have said before, the best way to get the best mpg is to not need to use regen at all.

 

[Llecentaur]

I think I got the reason why I was getting better results coasting in N than keeping the regen arrow in neutral position.

The test was done with the heating on, therefore the neutral position I was aiming for was really a slight regen to compensate heater's usage.

Tried the same without the heating and results are pretty equivalent to N. I must admit that it takes some training to get this right, specially that I have the impression that the czero's N is probably equivalent to iMiev' B.

 

[tonymil]

The best method of stopping/slowing down is the method that uses the brake pads the least. For me, that means choosing between E mode and B mode depending on the situation. I know some here use the early part of the brake pedal to engage regen before engaging the brake pads, but I have found the E/B mode options meet my needs. I've gotten very used to deciding in an instant which mode to use when I'm forced to slow down or stop and only rarely do I find that I've slowed down too much, too soon and need to tap the accelerator or that I've slowed down to little, too late and need to tap the brake earlier than I wanted. I've also noticed that whatever mode your in, regen stops when you reach about 9 mph. At that point the car acts like any gas car and is slowed by friction or keeps going if you're on a downslope. As for coasting, well doesn't that just mean maintaining your speed and not accelerating when you're on a downslope? I find it easy enough to do that by adjusting the pressure on the accelerator rather than popping into neutral. And on severe downslopes, B mode is perfect for maintaining speed while using regen.

I really think it comes down to personal preference as to which mode you use for driving and slowing down, as long as you're not using the brake before you get to 9 mph you're getting maximum regen and I think maximum range.

 

[peterdambier]

Although motors, generators and batteries may come close to 90% I'd rather expect with battery, motor, gear, wheels of rubber on tarmac we are happy to see 60%. Regen again will be no better than those 60% but now we have got only 30% left. So we wont get more than one third back of the power we lost breaking. Actual numbers are even smaller. Dont expect wonders.

Still, driving over the hill and down the other side I do reach the bottom with batteries filled to the rim after some 10 kilometers of driving. Getting home again takes me some 3 to 4 bars.

If we can go without breaking that will give us most kilometers. If we do have to use the breaks because of speed limits or traffic lights then regen does help us.

 

[Don]

I've also noticed that whatever mode your in, regen stops when you reach about 9 mph.

I think this is due to the 'creep mode' they stuck us with trying to emulate the action of an ICE with an auto trans - When you get below a certain speed, the regen stops because the motor is being fed a voltage at that point. I'd surely disable this if I was a programmer - I sure don't understand the need for the motor trying to move the car until I press hard on the brake pedal. It should quit using juice as soon as I release the accelerator, IMO - It doesn't need to keep trying to creep forward unless I direct it to!!

As for coasting, well doesn't that just mean maintaining your speed and not accelerating when you're on a downslope? I find it easy enough to do that by adjusting the pressure on the accelerator rather than popping into neutral. And on severe downslopes, B mode is perfect for maintaining speed while using regen

Yes, 'coasting' to me is the car moving without using any energy and I can easily do that just by modulating the pedal. Using 'B' mode, I can easily 'adjust' my 'coasting' to speed up just a touch or slow down just a bit when needed. I never shift to neutral

I really think it comes down to personal preference as to which mode you use for driving and slowing down, as long as you're not using the brake before you get to 9 mph you're getting maximum regen and I think maximum range.

Agreed - What works so well for me may not be ideal for everyone. I am so used to manual transmission cars (they're all I've ever owned over the past 50 years) that I don't have any ICE auto trans bad habits. For those who have never owned a manual trans vehicle, driving the iMiEV the way I do would probably take lots more concentrationthn they would be comfortable with, while for me it's completely second nature

Don

 

[jennrod12]

I usually stay out of B because I'm usually driving in rush-hour traffic. With B it's so easy to do one-pedal driving that I worry about not showing brake lights when slowing down.

I find that the one-pedal driving is so natural that I don't think about the brake-light issue and that could be bad news for me!

Jenn

 

[Don]

Yes, I wish we had the option to have the third brake light pulse once per second whenever the car is in regen mode . . . . not sure how legal that would be in all 50 states though. I know they make brake flasher units for use on motorcycles . . . . wonder how hard it would be to install one of those triggered by the regen?

Driving a manual trans, I almost always slow by downshifting anyway, so I'm used to not having brake lights showing when I'm slowing, so this car is no different. I'm always keeping an eye on the mirrors too . . . . a habit I got into riding motorcycles

I owned a Toyota Supra once with a 5 speed - Transferred it over to my son when I had about 150K on it . . . . he sold it when it had about 175K on it and it still had the factory brakes on it then - I had never even replaced the brake pads!

Don

 

[Zelenec]

And you certainly wont on I-miev

 

[gatedad11]

Interesting topic. Now that I have had the I for about 6 weeks, I have started to really experiment with the different modes. This week, I tried using "B" for anytime that I need to accelerate the car forward, then once I see an impending stop, switch to "N" and finally take my foot off of the brake. I cannot always do this, the terrain as well as traffic will sometimes make it impractical to drive like this. However, I can say that I was genuinely surprised by just how smoothly the car goes in neutral. In fact, it seems to accelerate when I switch from B to N. On any kind of downslope where I can coast without causing disruptions to the traffic flow, I do it. At this point I cannot say yeah or nay on whether it is better than all "E"(my previous mode), but it seems to extend the range. How much, I can't say with certainity, but it sure "seems" like it might be a good way to conserve range and still have a plesasant drive.

Lou