Regen Paddle

[PV1]

That Volt is quite impressive, heavier than the iMiev, but gets about the same 4-mile/kwh. And the regen paddle, i keep reaching for it when i get in the iMiEV.

Now you know you're going to get a lot of questions from members here about that, right :lol: ?

There were many more California members on here, but a good number have drifted away. I'm not sure if they still have i-MiEVs or moved on to something more refined.

 

[wmcbrine]

And the regen paddle, i keep reaching for it when i get in the iMiEV.

How does that work, BTW?

 

[pbui19]

And the regen paddle, i keep reaching for it when i get in the iMiEV.

How does that work, BTW?

It doesn't work at all on the iMiev, .

On the Volt, it's like a super regen command, all the way down to a rolling "stop". A bit like lightly touching the brake to regen, but more so. I usually drive in L, similar to L on the i, when coming to a stop sign, i let the L regens then use the paddle the last 10 yrd. It's particularly useful in stop-n-go traffic on the freeway.

One nice feature on the Volt, is that both the paddle and letting up the gopedal in L trigger the brake lights

 

[JoeS]

Hope y'all don't mind me breaking this discussion out from the California Owners thread into its own topic.

pbui, you've obviously piqued our interest, and especially mine as I've been advocating a paddle for regen even before I installed one on my Gen1 Insight (on the now-defunct Aptera forum).

On your Volt, is the implementation the same as on the Cadillac ELR?

On the Cadillac ELR, the amount of regen was (is?) proportional to the amount of time the paddle is pulled back, gradually increasing the longer you held the paddle (I never tried it, but was told that's how it worked).

On my Gen1 Honda Insight with my MIMA modification, the amount of regen was proportional to the distance the joystick (paddle) was pulled, the more the joystick was deflected, the higher the regen. On the Insight I also had the opposite benefit: pushing the joystick gave me pure electric acceleration; in effect, I had an electric supercharger to at my fingertips to supplement the 1000cc gas engine and supposedly higher torque than the stock system. Sadly, this car was totalled by a drunk driver rear-ending. I pulled out and have the entire MIMA system in a box, but not the priority to install it into my second Gen1 Insight.

pbui, with your long downhill grade into Los Gatos from home, I bet the Volt's regen stops working at some point as its battery gets filled.

 

[JoeS]

The part I was trying to buy from MievMoscow is the transducer/encoder that is actuated by the brake pedal. I've been toying with the idea of replacing that transducer with one mounted somewhere reachable for manual control, while leaving the original intact and merely disconnected and physically left in place. May be tougher than I think, as there are two more switches actuated by the brake pedal, so I bet Mitsu has some software interlocks on that operation as well.

Anyone have any ideas for a source for a used transducer, and I would also like the connector and a bit of wire that plugs into it?

 

[pbui19]

On your Volt, is the implementation the same as on the Cadillac ELR?

On the Cadillac ELR, the amount of regen was (is?) proportional to the amount of time the paddle is pulled back, gradually increasing the longer you held the paddle (I never tried it, but was told that's how it worked).

pbui, with your long downhill grade into Los Gatos from home, I bet the Volt's regen stops working at some point as its battery gets filled.

I haven't driven the ELR so can't tell you. But I've heard the ELR regen is proportional. In the Volt, it's just on/off and quite aggressive. Passengers can be lurched forward, especially at high speed. In that case, it's better to regen with light foot on the brake than engaging the paddle. I think of the paddle as a "pre-brake". I am not sure GM's logic to negate the paddle regen once the brake is applied though.

Yes, living at 2200 ft elevation does present a twist. Ideally I like to charge to 90% SOC, but neither the Volt nor the iMiev has the setting/ability to stop charging. I have a timer on my EVSE setup so I can sort of guess, but it's not very user friendly. So in the winter time, we blast the heater going down to at least recapture some of that energy.

The most I can recover is about 1kwh, on either vehicle, and it costs about 5kwh to climb.

My other problem with the Volt and the hill is that my commute is 50-mile roundtrip. With the Volt EV range (EPA 53 miles), it's just a little short to do the whole drive (in winter time) without having the darn ICE turning on the last mile or so, especially if my wife drives. It's bad for the engine, inefficient, and polluting. I find myself looking to charge, even just for an hour on level 1 with the Volt as with my iMiev. I've been thinking of rigging up an extra battery pack with a DC/AC inverter to charge with L1 during working hour. I save one of your post Joes, when you documented your experiment with your 48v pack.

 

[wmcbrine]

So, the purpose of the paddle -- the way it differs from the brake pedal -- is that it will never activate the brakes, but only regen? Is that right?

 

[pbui19]

So, the purpose of the paddle -- the way it differs from the brake pedal -- is that it will never activate the brakes, but only regen? Is that right?

that's correct, the paddle only regens, no mechanical brake at all...should save some serious brake pads

 

[JoeS]

..In the Volt, it's just on/off and quite aggressive. Passengers can be lurched forward, especially at high speed. In that case, it's better to regen with light foot on the brake than engaging the paddle. I think of the paddle as a "pre-brake". I am not sure GM's logic to negate the paddle regen once the brake is applied though....

So it is only a spring-loaded ON/OFF switch with no ability to modulate the regen intensity? Dang, that's primitive, and having the manual regen negated by applying the brake doesn't seem to make sense, either.

Is that amount of paddle-actuated regen different if you have it in a different drive setting?

 

[pbui19]

Is that amount of paddle-actuated regen different if you have it in a different drive setting?

I haven't notice the difference in regen amount between D and L; but i'll pay attention and let you know

 

[PV1]

Can you also hold down the paddle and vary the regen with the accelerator like we do with the different modes on the i-MiEV, or is it truly on/off with no variability? Or, is that what L is for?

 

[pbui19]

Can you also hold down the paddle and vary the regen with the accelerator like we do with the different modes on the i-MiEV, or is it truly on/off with no variability? Or, is that what L is for?

The paddle is just on/off with no variability. The manual says that it's effectively disable with brake or gopedal. I use it to augment regen in L. The on/off is a bit annoying as it can be a jerky. A more gradual regen is with gentle braking. I am still learning how to use it, for example it's best is to slow to a stop sign in L, then I have to time when to pull the paddle at the appropriate distance to come to practically zero velocity at the stop sign, then hit gopedal without ever hitting the brake. I chuckle when I find myself pulling the non-existent paddle in the iMiev.

Joes: the paddle seems to regen the same either in D or in L

 

[jray3]

I see that the regen paddle is coming in the Chevy Bolt as well. Hopefully it'll be proportional but still allow absolute max regen. They should also follow the European regs of activating brake lights at a certain deceleration threshold.