Which do you think will regen the battery better? Coasting down a steep hill or riding the brake pedal a little while going down that hill? Also, would it still regen if you put the car in neutral (with or without the brake)?

Any ideas?

Thanks.

 

I think it depends. In my 03, if I hold the brake lightly enough, I'll max out the regen without actually engaging the brakes. Whether you can do that or not depends on the grade of the hill. If the hill is too shallow, you'll slow down. If you hold the gas down slightly too, you'll turn the regen off so you can coast. I do that a lot too. I basically want to coast as much as I can - I just use the regen to check my speed down the hill so I don't go way over the limit.

I can't regen in Neutral in my 03. However, auto-stop works.

 

I'd say drive the car instead of it driving you. In other words, decide how fast you want to go down the hill and use the brakes if needed to keep at that speed. Regen will take care of itself.

You can't regen in neutral. Neutral is probably the most wasteful way to coast. The engine continues running and consuming gas in neutral whereas if you simply glide (in D) the engine will shut off its valves and consume no gas.