That’s really interesting. I wasn’t sure what percentage of the power to drive was recovered. Similar reason for why range improves in city/town driving.
Actually the benefit of regen in terms of power recovery/efficiency is debated. Some quite careful tests have suggested driving without (and that means allowing ‘coasting’) may actually be more efficient than using high levels of regen even in urban driving. This obviously comes down to driving style generally, which is as ever the biggest factor.
Bruce
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Indeed so. The experiment I was talking about was not about general efficiency but how much percentage of energy can be recovered in a repeated up/down hill route.
Overall efficiency of using regen nor coasting on a whole journey is a different matter and it depends on the journey, speeds and driving style. It can be shown though that town driving and country roads regen is likely the best but on longer journeys on motorways then coasting (combined with adaptive cruise control) or light regen is probably more efficient. When coasting on motorways it can preserve the high speed rather than lose speed with regen on and motorways tend to have less elevation changes than other roads.
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I have heard that suggestion. I’m not sure why coasting should be better than regen - though I suppose in a few situations it might be (not sure how you ‘coast’ when using one-pedal driving…).
I sometimes think that, because I can anticipate what is happening ahead, I should be able to improve things. For instance, if you are going on a long, gentle downhill, it may be better to gain a little speed on that downhill and scrub it off on the next uphill. Who can say?
I guess the principle is maintaining speed and coasting is better than slowing with regen (with incomplete energy recovery) then having to accelerate again.
How practical driving like that is in an urban situation I would wonder. Anticipation the key I suppose.
Personally I like to use regen in increasing amounts as traffic increases, and switch it off on an open road. More about control than efficiency. The steering wheel paddle controls Kia use make changing regen very simple, and the EV6 has levels in 4 steps from zero up to full 1 pedal (ie comes to a complete stop). The EV3 works slightly differently but similar principles, and paddle controlled again.
Bruce
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I have a lowly Gen 2 Leaf, and keep it in Eco mode and ‘B’ - regen. Mostly I think this works OK, as far as I can tell. When I am driving around here in Devon (hilly, twisty roads) I find the combination seems to work OK, but I must admit I have not tried turning regen off.
Certainly on most EVs you still get some energy recovery when you use the brakes, even with regen off. That is what the screen graphics show on ours, and our old i3 anyway.
Bruce
I had presumed all Kia regen paddles acted the same way. How do they differ?
Pleased to hear you got some uplift with the sub phase reversal.
.sjb
Don’t forget the other two braking systems - drag and rolling resistance - will reduce the regeneration recovery.
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That is one reason why the recovery is pegged at around 60% of power used, and of course, after all, it can’t be a perpetual motion machine.
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You can never know what is best in every little situation just in generalities on a longer run in different scenarios like urban, country hilly roads or flatter motorways at high speeds for instance.
On the whole it rather depends on ones preferences if you like regen then use it if not coast more. Personally I like the way regen works and brakes the car it for me makes driving better, effortless.
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Subtle differences. On the EV3 you have the choice of three steps with and 3 steps without 1 pedal. So you can still have low regen but the car will eventually come to a stop if you prefer rather than ‘creep’ as it does on lower regen settings in the EV6. A matter of personal preference how you like it set up. It also doesn’t have the left paddle ‘squeeze and hold’ for temporary max regen that I like to use on the EV6. This always confuses me at first when I swap to Mrs W’s car!
The regen on both is very well integrated and flicking up and down the levels is very smooth.
Bruce
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I haven’t used the Regen option at all on the R5. I “gained” 10 miles of range the other night by sticking to 60 or less and just anticipating traffic slow down at junctions. Good enough for me.
On another topic : R5 owners are reporting incompatibility between some chargers and Octopus Intelligent Go - the car hasn’t charged overnight. Renault are planning a software fix in the new year. I’m on the slightly more expensive but much simpler Octopus Go, so am unaffected. Just a heads-up for anyone going down the R5 route.
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Interesting, these subtle differences never show up in reviews. You had mentioned the squeeze and hold in a much earlier post but I didn’t really take it in and only noticed it again when I saw it mentioned on a YouTube video.
My driving has changed lately to using regen 1 in the city and using squeeze and hold when needed. I’m now predominantly regen 0 on motorway as I am the sort of driver who anticipates so I get better mileage on 0 using paddle if necessary.
The only time I go above 1 is on twisty country roads where the added breaking makes the car corner well without braking (pedal).
Mind you my wife and daughter just seem to set and forget.
.sjb
We have a Zappi and have never been able to get the intelligent charging working. So we control everything from the My Renault app. We tell it we want the car ready for 5.30 and that it can’t charge until 23.30. It works like a charm. We have the intelligent Go tariff because it’s only 7p and because you get an extra hour over the standard Go. During those six hours we charge the car, the house batteries, heat the hot water and run the appliances. Octopus said they were happy that we use it like this, as we onboarded using the test charge on intelligent Go. It’s worth looking into I’d have thought.
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I’m glad it’s working for you.
We couldn’t choose our charger (wife’s company car) and can’t afford the possibility of waking up to an uncharged car. So the extra penny per kWh and one hour less overnight is well worth paying for peace of mind, for us.
Hope you’re enjoying the R5 as much as me. Brilliant car !
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Ours is a Megane; the 5 wasn’t available last December. The 5 is a lovely thing, as is its Alpine 390 sibling. We saw a few out and about in France and they are both very cool.
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I’ve seen quite a few 5s around but have not seen an Alpine version in the flesh yet.
Renault seem to have got their mojo back with their latest vehicles. Good to see.
Edit - Saw a Tornado Matte Grey A290 this morning. What a great looking little machine.
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Interesting, Vietnamese EV car manufacturer appears to make good progress in EV technology, it offers a 10-year vehicle warranty, a 10-year unlimited-kilometre battery warranty.
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I am interested in the new Alpine A390 which is coming to the UK in ?late spring 2026. A performance EV loosely based on the Megane platform but with a lot of Alpine input, not least a tri-motor setup.
It might be a more interesting and engaging replacement for my EV6. Not quite sure why people talk about it as an alternative to Porsche Macan which is far larger and surely more expensive. Looks more line a saloon/fastback than SUV to me, and similar size to the EV6.
It has decent but not ground-breaking range and charging speed, at 345 miles WLTP and 190kW/hr but in real life those are actually fine from our experience. Prices not fixed for UK yet.
I have placed a small and fully returnable deposit for an early place in the queue when it arrives. We shall see, but Alpine have done really well with their two vehicles so far. Nothing else on the market, or apparently in the pipeline appeals. Common sense would keep the EV6 of course, and may well win out!
Bruce
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