If regen is working then it’s not coasting. It’s braking.
Don’t coast. Drive at a steady speed. If you’re coasting, then you spent part of your time above the average speed and part below. That’s less efficient than just driving at the average speed.
Coasting in an ICE car is not quite coasting either. The car is slowing down. The amount off the accelerator in an EV that reproduces that same mild deceleration engages the regen ever so slightly.
You could, in principle, let off the accelerator at juuuust the right rate to essentially be coasting–i.e., no regen and no energy use. In fact it’s easy on a Tesla, you just look at the regen meter and make sure it is exactly centered. But it’s a pointless exercise. I know that some ICE hypermilers liked to accelerate up to speed, then coast for a while, then repeat. Maybe that was effective for an ICE since they tend to be more efficient at higher loads, but it’s silly in an EV (plus annoying for anyone following you).
Most who coast in ICE vehicles are not hypermilers.
Red light or stopped car a bit ahead.
ICE or EV efficiency is served best by easing off the accelerator to braking gradually, ideally reaching the red light as it turns green or car as it moves along preserving forward momentum. In an ICE that entails coasting for some of it. In an EV it entails easing off the accelerator gently. The effect is the same but during what is called coasting in an ICE an EV maybe applying some regen instead.
Arrrgh! That word! My car is turning me into a hypermiler…
I bought the first hybrid (Honda Insight, came out in 2000), and there, front and center, was a constant readout of gas mileage and hybrid battery usage/regen. I’ve developed lots of tricks to maximize that mileage.
But those tricks are NOT considerate to other drivers, especially the one right behind me. One of the Original Insight forums recommends putting a Slow Moving Vehicle triangle on the back of your car.
Maybe I’ll put some gaffer’s tape over the MPG readout and try to drive like a normal human…
When I had my Volt I was obsessed with getting as much EV range as possible before it switched to Hybrid mode. At first it was a game to always be at the max “250+ mpg.” Later, an obsession. In retrospect, it was unnecessarily stressful. Now with full EV, I never give it a thought. I look now and then on kw/hr stats, but they’re always in the same range. I’m much more relaxed. I always have plenty of range; it’s like driving a car that never needs refueling. It just stops being something you think about.
As a Prius owner I don’t do what I would call real “hypermiling” unless I have nowhere in particular to go and no one else is on my side of the road. I do, however, let off the engine, while using as little brake as possible in doing so, when approaching a red light. It’s just common sense. Even in a full ICE, you don’t want to accelerate into a red light.
Depends on what you’re optimizing.
If your goal is to optimize total throughput of cars, including yours, on a busy boulevard with 45-50mph speed limits and traffic signals every half-mile or so (i.e. anywhere in modern suburbia) the way to move the most traffic is for the people first in line at a red light to be paying careful attention, then floor it as soon as the light is green and they’re sure nobody is running the cross light.
Accelerate as quickly as your car can do it to the desired speed of traffic; be that limit, limit +5, limit + 10, or whatever the “going rate” is in your locality. Around here it tends to be limit + 10 to maybe +15, but Florida be krazy an’ shit. Once on-speed, stay at that speed.
And for everyone else in line to do the same to get as many cars as possible across the intersection before the yellow. Only build more than a car length of space between cars after everyone is up to speed.
Braking at next yellow/red doesn’t have to be nearly so max-effort, but ideally is aware of what’s going on at the back of your platoon. So you’re not bunching them while they’re still in the acceleration phase.
Hypermiling in a busy city/suburb is profoundly anti-social behavior. Do that only when the nearest trailing car is at least a quarter mile behind you.
Would that I could convince more than 1% of the drivers around me to do this reliably.
No, it’s coasting and there’s no point in splitting hairs when comparing regen to a typical ice car. All my automatic cars shift out of t-converter lockup and freewheel against the engine which is minimal braking. If I’m driving a stick I pull it out of gear.
I’m not against regen braking in the slightest but it has to be entirely under my control just as any other braking is.
It is in my EV. I can go from max to zero while I “coast,” depending on my accelerator position. There’s a gauge.
Further explaining: if my foot is off the pedal, I’m getting full regen. (needle to the left) If I apply a little pressure, it’s less regen braking and more coasting. (still to the left, but less so) A little more pressure and I don’t get any regen and I’m coasting freely. (needle straight up). A little more pressure and I’m using the battery to power the car. (needle to the right)
So Mazda has announced they’re coming out with their first EV later this year. Although I’m not planning on replacing my car anytime soon, I was excited by the announcement because I do like the idea of an EV as my next vehicle, and I like Mazda. But it sounds like it’s going to have much less range than other EVs on the market, which is disappointing. Rationally, it will still have more than enough range for like 99% of my driving – the only thing it likely wouldn’t work for would be occasional trips to the Bay Area. But there’s just some visceral aversion to less range. They will also have a plug-in hybrid version available, which sounds like it will work pretty much like a Chevy Volt, so I guess that would be a reasonable compromise, but not a pure EV.
I like the homage to the RX-8 with that rear half door.
I’m not sure if it’s marketing BS or not but I recently got a newer ICE car that during coasting displays that it’s charging the battery using energy tapped off the rolling vehicle.
The 100 mile range, if true, seems like a complete non-starter to me.
And I find it interesting that Car and Driver is calling it an SUV. I guess it does have a somewhat SUV like stance, but otherwise it looks more like a hatchback to me.
Not to mention Mazda typically uses the CX- prefix for SUV model names, and reserves MX- for sporty cars.
And in the next sentence they call it a “crossover”. Remember when the Volvo V70 Cross Country was a crossover? Now an Audi/VW equivalent is an “Allroad”. Who even know anymore. Even the car experts are confused.
For me, 100 miles of range would still be adequate for something like 99% of the trips I make, especially since I’d be able to charge it in the garage overnight. But it does make the plug-in hybrid version more appealing for that other 1% of trips. Especially if that version still has the same 100 mile range in pure electric mode. Then I’d still be using the ICE only very rarely.
Actually, assuming the plug-in hybrid still has the same 100 miles of range in electric mode, I wonder if you could drive around most of the time with an empty gas tank most of the time (to avoid the possibility of having old gas in the tank), but if you find yourself in a situation where that’s not enough range simply pull into a gas station, fill the tank, and switch to hybrid mode. Pretty much like you do now in an ICE car when you’re running low on gas.
Most plug-hybrids have more like 30 miles of range on electric only. Some quite a bit less,
I think the MX-30 is a huge miss for Mazda. Whoever decided to put a tiny battery in that thing should be fired. We don’t know the final price, but Car and Driver says the touring edition will come in around $35,000, and the top end one over $40,000.
A Chevrolet Bolt has a 259 mile range, and costs $32,000 and tops out at $35,000. So if I just wanted a city car, why would I buy the Mazda? Also, it’s slow - 9.7s to 60. The Bolt has the equivalent of 200hp, while the Mazda only has 147. That tiny battery (35.5 kWh) doesn’t appear to save any money. The only way the car made sense is if it was significantly cheaper than the competition. But it isn’t
I predict it will flop in the marketplace.
For me, the only reason I’d consider the MX-30 is brand loyalty, I guess you’d call it. I really like my current Mazda and would like to get another one if possible. But… given the MX-30’s specs if I were shopping for an EV in the near future I think the Chevy Bolt would be my first choice, and I’d probably take a look at the Leaf and the Kona as well.
From what I’ve read, supposedly Mazda calculated the environmental impact of manufacturing the battery pack, compared to the environmental benefit of the reduced emissions, and determined that this is the sweet spot where the environmental benefit is the greatest.