Regent when full?

[user 1168]

We live at the top of a hill, and just had an extended test drive in the leaf and the i3

After fully charging the batteries, the regen on the leaf was non existent, and so you would need to use the breaks for the first few miles, until the battery had dropped to about 98% then the regen would have some effect slowing the vehicle.

On the i3 the full effect of the regen braking was still there even with a "full" battery. ( I wonder in if reality the battery is actually only charged to say 98% to allow this effect)


So what's it like I the Outlander? Can I regen in the first few miles after a charge?

 

[greendwarf]

Same as the Leaf - no Regen until the battery has run down a bit

 

[PeterGalbavy]

The energy has to go somewhere and you can 't overcharge the batteries so it becomes heat - in the brake pads.

As someone who has played with slow discharging of LiPo cells (Parrot drone) for measurement and cell refresh it's amazing quite how much heat can be generated (in the discharging part of a smart charger - not the battery) over a long time from a small LiPo cell. Mechanical work, like flying or driving, are much bigger drains on power. Much much bigger.

 

[zzcoopej]

The energy has to go somewhere and you can 't overcharge the batteries

I have both a PHEV and an iMiEV, ie 2 generations of Mitsubishi EV's. I've also noticed that I do get slight regen in the PHEV on "B5" after only a short distance (500 metres or less) after a full charge, however its not a strong regen (2-5kW at the most so more like B1 or B0) so could easily be overlooked if you don't notice the power meter go slightly into the blue "regen" zone. Whereas the iMiEV on the same first corner from our driveway in "B" mode is putting the dial to max regen.
Comparing the 2 vehicles on a full charge, I wonder if fully charged on the PHEV really is 100%, whereas fully charged on the iMiEV and Leaf are only 98% or something, so there is a bit left? Interestingly using the CanIon diagnostics app, my iMiEV sometimes shows SOC as 100.5% after charging, so 100% is definitely not strictly "full".

 

[anko]

Whereas the iMiEV on the same first corner from our driveway in "B" mode is putting the dial to max regen.

Unless you live on top of a hill yourself, you would not be able to put more energy back in than you've taken out. Not because the battery was full, but because there was not more kinetic energy built up in the car to give back to the battery.

Let's assume you do not live on top of a hill. Then the question would not be whether a car allows for over charging / was not at 100% to begin with, but the question would be whether a car does or does not restrict charge current at high SOC, like the Outlander does.