The car rolls for surprising long distances on gentle slopes with no accelerator and B0.
You save more energy by coasting than you gain by regen.
Of course use more B to reduce speed on steeper hills.
Dear Mike,
You are right. If you can roll without using B5 to slow, even on steeper hills without obviously getting an accident- this is what happens- When
energy is transformed from one form to another, or moved from one place to another, or from one system to another there is
energy loss. This means that when
energy is converted to a different form, some of the input energy is turned into a highly disordered form of energy, like
heat. Functionally, turning all of the input energy into the output energy is nigh impossible, unless one is deliberately turning energy into heat (like in a
heater). As well, whenever
electrical energy is
transported through power lines, the energy into the power lines is always more than the energy that comes out at the other end. Energy losses are what prevent processes from ever being 100%
efficient. In an electric car, energy lost in electricity use is as follows:
Electricity use is a good example that illustrates energy loss in a system. By the time the energy associated with electric
power reaches the user, it has taken many forms. Initially, the process begins with the creation of the electricity through some method. For example, the burning of
coal in a
power plant takes the
chemical energy stored in the coal and releases it through combustion, creating heat that produces
steam. From here the steam moves
turbines and the
mechanical energy here turns a
generator to produce electricity. A typical coal fired electrical plant is around 38% efficient,
[2] so ~1/3 of the initial energy content of the fuel is transformed into a usable form of energy while the rest is lost. Further losses occur during the transport of this electricity. In the
transmission and
distribution of electricity in the United States, the EIA estimates that about 6% of the electricity is lost in these processes.
[4] Finally, the electricity reaches its destination. This electricity could reach an incandescent
light bulb wherein a thin
wire is heated until it glows, with a significant amount of energy being lost as heat, shown in Figure 1. The resulting light contains only about 2% of the energy content of the coal used to produce it.
[2] Changing to
CFL light bulbs can improve this by about 4x, but that only takes it up to 8% of the initial chemical energy in the coal.
Fuels have enormous energy contents, but very little actually ends up as usable energy and most is lost. These energy losses result in extremely inefficient processes, some of these come from fundamental limitations like the
second law of thermodynamics, but some provide opportunities for better engineering.
It is simple laws of physics. So smart alecs delude themselves by thinking that if you put your car on B0 all the times, or put it on charge, or ECO...you save so much energy. Well done and well understood to them. YOU CANNOT. You have a hybrid vehicle which uses a combination of ICE and electric battery, utilising this to the max. By them [not you] that you will get all your energy back by putting it on B5, or ECO, or CHARGE ie 100% of it is all codwobblers. They are deluding themselves and living in denial. What you are doing is the most efficient use of energy. Put it on NORMAL, drive not too fast, B0, and if possible brake as little as possible and if you need to brake, use REGEN to slow vehicle down. Another basic law is that the faster you drive over the same distance, THE MORE ENERGY IT WILL USE. So drive at around 40 to 50mph or 60 kph. Try to use up all the energy when pressing the accelerator TO MOVE THE CAR, or as much of it as possible without wasting it on Charge or B5. Good luck
