B0 to B5

[Ian73]

Apologies if this has already been discussed. Just bought a new Outlander Phev. Does the use of the B0 to B5 settings add much charge to the batteries?

 

[AndyInOz]

Unless you're on a long descent, you probably won't notice much difference.

I mainly notice the total lack of wear on the brake shoes.

 

[Ian73]

What is the best B setting to be driving in? Average drive is all hills and round trip of 10 miles

 

[zzcoopej]

Apologies if this has already been discussed. Just bought a new Outlander Phev. Does the use of the B0 to B5 settings add much charge to the batteries?

Actually it makes little difference to charge in the batteries as the foot brake pedal also uses regen wherever possible. Look at the power gauge while using the paddles and brake pedal. The B0-B5 paddles really just adjust the "zero point" - ie what happens when you have neither the accelerator or brake pressed. B0 = coast, B5 = slow down a lot.

 

[Ian73]

Thanks for the advice. Collecting it on Tuesday and i guess its the same as any other car. You learn how to drive it to make it work best for yourself.

 

[ThudnBlundr]

As mentioned, the car will use the max regen it can when you do press the brake pedal (based on battery percentage, temperature, etc.). You can also coast in any 'B' setting - changing the number merely alter the coasting point. You can set it coast when you lift your foot totally of the accelerator, or you can set it to slow down more rapidly. There are loads of good reasons for doing it either way so it comes down to personal preference. I prefer to use B5 and have the extra control if I want it without fiddling with the paddles. YMMV

 

[littlescrote]

I mainly notice the total lack of wear on the brake shoes.

Welcome back to the 1970s. Brake pads with discs, shoes are with drums.

As mentioned, the car will use the max regen it can when you do press the brake pedal (based on battery percentage, temperature, etc.). You can also coast in any 'B' setting - changing the number merely alter the coasting point. You can set it coast when you lift your foot totally of the accelerator, or you can set it to slow down more rapidly. There are loads of good reasons for doing it either way so it comes down to personal preference. I prefer to use B5 and have the extra control if I want it without fiddling with the paddles. YMMV

Exactly this!

I prefer B5 as it gives 'one pedal' driving most of the time, but it is inconsistent so you shouldn't just automatically assume that lifting will slow you down, as it has less effect in the cold, and less effect as the battery level nears full until there is no regen whatsoever on a full charge (either through accelerator pedal lift or brake pedal pressure).

As said, just watch the power gauge and correlate it to your pedal actions.

 

[greendwarf]

Whilst clearly you can't put energy via regen into a full battery, the B settings still have a deceleration effect, as I found when I was stuck in "engine started" mode with both a full tank & battery recently for several weeks of driving. Where the surplus energy goes I don't know or perhaps the software activates the brakes - as they say in Shakespeare in Love, "its a mystery". :lol:

 

[Nibbo]

Whilst clearly you can't put energy via regen into a full battery, the B settings still have a deceleration effect, as I found when I was stuck in "engine started" mode with both a full tank & battery recently for several weeks of driving. Where the surplus energy goes I don't know or perhaps the software activates the brakes - as they say in Shakespeare in Love, "its a mystery". :lol:

That's not my experience at all. I always switch to B5 as soon as I start the car.
When I have a full battery it sometimes catches me out as it does not decelerate as quick as I am used to.
As soon as I have gone a couple of miles then the regen affects the way the car response to taking my foot off the accelerator again.
Maybe it is model specific? Mine is an older 15 plate (MY14?).

 

[littlescrote]

That's not my experience at all. I always switch to B5 as soon as I start the car.
When I have a full battery it sometimes catches me out as it does not decelerate as quick as I am used to.
As soon as I have gone a couple of miles then the regen affects the way the car response to taking my foot off the accelerator again.
Maybe it is model specific? Mine is an older 15 plate (MY14?).

Same here for my 2016. There is nowhere for it to go. It cannot, and does not, slow you down on a FULL charge. Anything less than totally full has a small retarding effect as indicated by the needle dropping into the blue, but on a full charge the needle stays flat, just as it does in B0.

Mitsubishi could have implemented a power sink resistor (but it would have to be massive) or application of brakes, to keep the retardation in each B mode consistent across battery charge levels and temperatures, but they did not. At least in my experience of my 2016 they did not.

If you're going fast enough, the resistance from air and tyres may be enough to believe that the retardation is coming from elsewhere, but at urban seeds it's very obvious that there is none.

 

[greendwarf]

Well I can only report what happened with a full battery whilst burning off petrol at under 20 mph for several weeks. The slowing effect came as I paddled from B0 (my normal driving choice) through to B5 (my normal "braking" choice).

 

[littlescrote]

So your "full battery" was charged by the generator during the driving cycle? In that case, it's not the same fully charged as when put on an external charge where cell balancing occurs. In that case, there would have been a bit of head room for regen charge.

 

[Fjpod]

I don't find the paddles very helpful unless you are going down a very long hill and you want to keep up a certain level of speed without using the brake pedal. And, as others have said using the brake pedal gives you just as much regeneration as the paddles, you just use your foot.

One more thing... It is better to use your forward motion to go a father distance, rather than to generate charge for the battery. Another way of saying it is, if you have to use regeneration a lot to slow down, you accelerated too much to begin with.

A rule of thumb I was once offered is that regeneration only gives you back about a third of the energy you put in, in the first place.

 

[greendwarf]

So your "full battery" was charged by the generator during the driving cycle? In that case, it's not the same fully charged as when put on an external charge where cell balancing occurs. In that case, there would have been a bit of head room for regen charge.

Probably not, as the "engine start" came one morning after an overnight top up charge. However, although the driving EV% dropped quite quickly, it never got to zero, so I suspect that the "engine started" mode is just a forced Charge Mode and the normal hysteresis discharge/recharge loop is still active, although the dashboard display is too simple to show the short-term drop in battery charge.

So at urban speeds, with the ICE running at a constant speed under "engine start", there are likely to be short periods when the car needs extra power above that being generated, (e.g. trying to jump the lights or avoid EV scooter louts :lol: ). Then, when you brake or paddle to slow down, Regen energy can go into the battery, if the ICE hasn't replaced it yet - hence our differing experiences of how effective B5 s at slowing the car down with an apparently "full" battery.

I suppose it is also possible that Mitsu have got a more extended hysteresis loop under "engine start" to help avoid loss of braking effect but, of course, they would never tell us about it. :lol:

 

[greendwarf]

One more thing... It is better to use your forward motion to go a father distance, rather than to generate charge for the battery. Another way of saying it is, if you have to use regeneration a lot to slow down, you accelerated too much to begin with.

That might be true on an American freeway but not on the competitive "race tracks" of Central London, especially with our 20mph speed limit - further reference to delivery bike & EV scooter hazards :twisted: :lol:

 

[Fjpod]

One more thing... It is better to use your forward motion to go a father distance, rather than to generate charge for the battery. Another way of saying it is, if you have to use regeneration a lot to slow down, you accelerated too much to begin with.

That might be true on an American freeway but not on the competitive "race tracks" of Central London, especially with our 20mph speed limit - further reference to delivery bike & EV scooter hazards :twisted: :lol:

Well..... it's always better to use your forward motion to go farther. It's a law of physics. But you are absolutely 100% correct that it is not always possible to use that momentum in the most efficient way. Second best is generating battery charge.

 

[user 5728]

What is the best B setting to be driving in? Average drive is all hills and round trip of 10 miles

I think the best way is to try and learn on doing.

 

[greendwarf]

I have found B5 works well on twisting country roads. giving the effect of engine braking on blind bends and if you add in hills then u get the max regen benefit as well.

 

[michael8554]

IMO, most of us seem to be in two distinct schools of thought on this:

One group loves B5, to Regen whenever possible.

The other group loves B0, to save as much charge as possible by coasting, only Regen braking when necessary.

Michael

 

[ThudnBlundr]

IMO, most of us seem to be in two distinct schools of thought on this:

One group loves B5, to Regen whenever possible.

The other group loves B0, to save as much charge as possible by coasting, only Regen braking when necessary.

Michael

But of course you can always coast in any 'B' setting, so B5 gives you all the regen it can as well as allowing you to coast whenever you want. Whereas you can only get regen in B0 by pressing the brakes. That's why I always drive in B5 except on long journey, where I use ACC which manages the regen for you