B Mode

[irfca]

I also tend to find I switch between ECO and non-ECO, depending on how far I have to coast/glide to a red light and how aggressive I want the braking/regen to be ... I like the idea of using Neutral too, to increase that coasting distance.

I tried Neutral going down a very long hill I travel on the way to work - the glide was certainly much more than I have experienced with either Drive or Brake mode ... I managed to gain more than 20km/hr, so I applied the brakes to stay within 20km of the speed limit ... and to my surprise, there was NO regen braking while I was in Neutral ... I tested this a couple of times through my drive, and observed no regen braking ... so using Neutral may improve glide distance, but it would seem if you have to bake, you'll loose energy! In retrospect, I guess that makes sense ... Neutral means no engine engagement ... of any kind, it would seem.

I think I'll stick with trying to maintain in or near the "sweet spot" unless I have a very long, near level glide, trying to time a flip between N and D seems more difficult (and potentially dangerous) than trying to keep near the "sweet spot" IMHO.

 

[tractioninc]

Perhaps your car is different than mine, but my brake lights absolutely come on when I let off the throttle in B mode. I can see the reflection of the brake lights in bus windshields at night in my rearview.

Thanks! I've gone back and done some testing and you're right. As you lift off the throttle to decelerate in B Mode, the brake lights come on at the very top of the pedal travel--that last half cm/quarter inch of movement before your foot lifts completely off the throttle pedal activates the brake lights.

 

[user 285]

I love B mode now and drive in it all the time. I'm finding it easier to find the sweet spot as I approach a stop sign/traffic lights/roundabout now, just scooping off enough energy to come to a halt in the right place.
Obviously B mode (and the Eco button) make no difference when you're driving at a constant speed (although the Eco button affects the A/C somewhat).

The service manual suggests that driving in B is the efficient thing to do, and the N and D are really provided for compatibility with people who are used to automatic gearboxes. Maybe that's why B works for me - I've driven manual gearboxes up to this point.

 

[tractioninc]

It's worth noting that we've had very hot weather for the past few weeks (it will peak at 95 F / 35 C today) and I've been using the air conditioning every day. I've just started driving in Eco mode and it has made a noticeable bump in my mi/Kwh efficiency--enough to overcome the drop I'd experienced when I began using a/c frequently.

 

[JejuSoul]

I have had my car 3 months and have yet to use B mode.
I was told by the dealer this mode is engine Braking and is to be used when coming down very steep hills.
It's the same as L (Low gear) on an automatic.

I found this topic first on another forum https://speakev.com/threads/just-collected-my-soul-regenerative-braking-question.8684/page-2#post-123102

Tomorrow is Sunday, perhaps a good day to test some of the ideas in this thread.

 

[GizmoEV]

I have had my car 3 months and have yet to use B mode.
I was told by the dealer this mode is engine Braking and is to be used when coming down very steep hills.
It's the same as L (Low gear) on an automatic.

Your dealer doesn't sound like they have driven a manual transmission ICE car much or understands EV very well. The gear box does not change ratio so D or B mode makes no difference in that regard. D or B mode only tells the controller how much regen to have. I recommend that you try B mode all the time for a while until you can smoothly drive with it. Only then can you make a preference decision based on your own experience. Yesterday on my way home from the dealer with my 2016 Soul EV+ I put it in B mode and enjoyed regen down the hills with cruise control enabled. As long as you don't think you have to take your foot off all the way suddenly you will find you can drive mostly without using the brakes down to very low speed.

 

[JejuSoul]

There is a really good article about magnetic braking here - http://www.bmwblog.com/2015/07/10/a-magnetic-braking-primer-bmw-i3-versus-tesla-70d/
I have been driving in 'B' mode for the last week and I like it. Single pedal driving has not been well explained in the past.

 

[aardvark7]

I read that article and, while it is a good read, it appears they do like to think of themselves as cleverer.
I felt it necessary to point out the error regarding 'regeneration'...