I was loitering in the FEH forum and came across a thread regarding low gear. In that thread were some posts that said that you get better regen by applying the brakes than you do by just coasting.

Does anyone know whether this is also true for the TCH? I've generally been coasting quite a bit. I'm wondering if I should be braking more and coasting less. Of course if I do that I'll have to expend energy (either ICE or SOC) to keep driving instead of coasting.

 

B mode on the TCH will bost regen if your speed is under roughly 18mph. Much over that and the ICE is spun up to assist with braking, regardless of the batteries SOC. The FEH in L will not spin up the ICE unless you are over 40mph or the SOC is full.

You are better off to conserve momentum when possible. Now if you know you will need to stop or slow down significantly, lightly braking should give you more regen than coasting and then braking harder.

You may have heard the expression "drive with the load". Essentially that means to let your speed bleed off as you go up a hill, and let it build some as you go down. You are letting your momentum carry you over the hill, avoiding heavy use of the ICE. Obviously you don't want to be a rolling roadblock as you crest every hill. But allowing your speed to drop 5mph or so as you crest a hill, and go 5mph or so over your desired speed when going back down will boost your mpg.

 

My opinion is, if you see that you are in a situation where brakes will have to be applied (in other words, coasting will not slow you down enough) it is best to apply the brakes sooner and in a constant but as light as possible fashion to gradually slow so that harder use of the brakes will not be required. I try to avoid straight coasting if it means having to use the brakes harder near the end. I have 2 reasons:

1) Obviously using brakes steps up the regen that normal coasting provides. I have no idea if harder breaking for a shorter time or lighter braking for a longer time produces more regen over the entire braking cycle, so that's why point #2
2) By using the brakes longer and lighter and avoid have to brake firmer at the end of a coast, it may eliminate or reduce the amount of time that brake pads are actually being used (and thus prolonging the life of your brakes) as I understand that light braking may only employ regen braking without hydraulic braking until almost stopped).