RAV 4 PHEV Regenerated from HV mode to EV mode

[HSDish]

I was at holiday in Swedish " Idre Fjäll", a very "hilly" area in mid west of Sweden.

I started to drive in HV mode (the traction Battery was " empty" ) and drove only downhill for about 10 km ( 6.2137 miles I think).

When I came down to the small community "Idre", the car had generated the traction Battery for 5 km ( 3 miles) and shifted from HV mode to EV mode.

I havn´t seen that before

[ernieb]

There is a hill I use regularly in Derbyshire that if I switch to sport mode will generate at least 4 extra miles from empty. Clever technology, I do find if it’s a longish decent the switch to sport mode, greater retardation downhill, produces better recovery.

[HSDish]

3 minutes ago, ernieb said:

There is a hill I use regularly in Derbyshire that if I switch to sport mode will generate at least 4 extra miles from empty. Clever technology, I do find if it’s a longish decent the switch to sport mode, greater retardation downhill, produces better recovery.

I`ll test the sport mode next time I`ll come to a long downhill.

NICE feature

[Nick72]

16 minutes ago, HSDish said:

I was at holiday in Swedish " Idre Fjäll", a very "hilly" area in mid west of Sweden.

I started to drive in HV mode (the traction battery was " empty" ) and drove only downhill for about 10 km ( 6.2137 miles I think).

When I came down to the small community "Idre", the car had generated the traction battery for 5 km ( 3 miles) and shifted from HV mode to EV mode.

I havn´t seen that before

We have a second home in the northern lake District. Similar environment. I often get 3 to 6 miles off regeneration coming down the mountains. Pretty cool no. 😉

[Nick72]

As Ernie says... Always run up and down the hills and mountains in sport mode for the greater regen braking.

[HSDish]

Unfortunately I didn`t notice this immediately so the first days (nights) I charged the car overnigth so the traction Battery was fully charged in the morning, and then drove down the hill.

What happened to the regenerated power then?

Was it just "wasted energy" ?

The Battery indicator just said fully charged when I come down the hill to the small community , for shopping and sightseeing

[Nick72]

3 hours ago, HSDish said:

Unfortunately I didn`t notice this immediately so the first days (nights) I charged the car overnigth so the traction battery was fully charged in the morning, and then drove down the hill.

What happened to the regenerated power then?

Was it just "wasted energy" ?

The battery indicator just said fully charged when I come down the hill to the small community , for shopping and sightseeing

Probably wasted if the Battery was already full. 

[GBgraham]

On 8/10/2024 at 12:05 AM, Nick72 said:

Probably wasted if the battery was already full. 

I'm not sure what full is as I have seen as much as 87 Kms. (the norm is 80-83)

As soon as I leave home I go downhill for just over 1 km and no matter what I have in the car from the mains charge I still show more at the bottom.

BTW. I to always use sport mode to regen. I use EV if I know I can do the trip on Battery if not I use HV but I make all the EV is used by the time arrive home. I believe there is a way of doing this another way which may be replied on but where I can for me the KISS rule applies🫤

 

 

 

[philip42h]

8 minutes ago, GBgraham said:

I'm not sure what full is as I have seen as much as 87 Kms. (the norm is 80-83)

As soon as I leave home I go downhill for just over 1 km and no matter what I have in the car from the mains charge I still show more at the bottom.

BTW. I to always use sport mode to regen. I use EV if I know I can do the trip on battery if not I use HV but I make all the EV is used by the time arrive home. I believe there is a way of doing this another way which may be replied on but where I can for me the KISS rule applies🫤

You don't appear to be measuring State of Charge (SoC) as in kWh stored in the Battery.

Estimated range (miles or km) is the car's best guess at how far the car will currently go based on the current SoC and the efficiency with which you have been driving the car in the recent past. Going down a hill for 1 km will improve your recent efficiency and your SoC, so your estimated range should increase. (I too start with 1 km downhill ... 😉 )

In normal operation the hybrid will seek neither to fill nor fully deplete the traction Battery. Totally flat and you can't start the ICE, totally full and you can't recover energy on overrun and braking. So, it will endeavour to have a little capacity at either end which it doesn't tell us about ... 

The best way to apply the KISS principle would be to forget about all of this 'nonesense' and just enjoy driving your car! 😄 

[GBgraham]

52 minutes ago, philip42h said:

 

The best way to apply the KISS principle would be to forget about all of this 'nonesense' and just enjoy driving your car! 😄 

I totally agree Philip, I was going to put such as a footnote to my post but thought KISS was enough. 😎

[HSDish]

Thanks to all contributors.

I think Ive become a bit of a nerd in case of driving as mush as possible in EV mode 😁