Bolt EV owners: Does the Regen paddle work in L mode?
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There was an article that discussed this question
http://insideevs.com/exclusive-inside-the-chevrolet-bolt-with-its-chief-engineer-new-details/
It said, in part....
In addition to the Low drive setting, the Bolt has a Regen on Demand paddle on the steering wheel. So there are actually four different levels of regen with the level of deceleration getting stronger at each level below:
Drive mode (mildest regen <.2g’s)
Drive mode using Regen on Demand paddle
Low mode
Low mode plus using Regen on Demand paddle (strongest regen ~.3g’s)
http://insideevs.com/exclusive-inside-the-chevrolet-bolt-with-its-chief-engineer-new-details/
It said, in part....
In addition to the Low drive setting, the Bolt has a Regen on Demand paddle on the steering wheel. So there are actually four different levels of regen with the level of deceleration getting stronger at each level below:
Drive mode (mildest regen <.2g’s)
Drive mode using Regen on Demand paddle
Low mode
Low mode plus using Regen on Demand paddle (strongest regen ~.3g’s)
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If the battery pack is near full state of charge... regen is diminished to almost nothing.
If you "burn off" a few miles, you'll have max regen available once again.
To answer the original question, pulling the paddle adds additional regen even when driving in "L" mode.... no question about it- as long as you're not near max state of charge.
DOH!!! Yes, it was fairly well charged.
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^ Well, there you go!
I went out for bagels yesterday morning... I had the Bolt plugged in overnight. I was quite surprised at the first stop sign on my street when I actually had to hit the brakes to stop the Bolt. On the trip home (3.1mi round trip to the bagel place) I could use full regen again. Guess I burned off enough electrons that there was room for some regen-recharge.
I just "topped off" at work a few min ago, so tonight out of the gate I know not to expect full regen till I put a few miles on the battery.
Live and learn right?
I went out for bagels yesterday morning... I had the Bolt plugged in overnight. I was quite surprised at the first stop sign on my street when I actually had to hit the brakes to stop the Bolt. On the trip home (3.1mi round trip to the bagel place) I could use full regen again. Guess I burned off enough electrons that there was room for some regen-recharge.
I just "topped off" at work a few min ago, so tonight out of the gate I know not to expect full regen till I put a few miles on the battery.
Live and learn right?
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There is definitely more regen with the paddle, I experienced this while in Low on a test drive of a friend's Bolt. If the battery is full, you may not experience it in all its glory.
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I noticed the same "lack of paddle regen" in L when I test drove a Bolt. What's strange is that someone had taken it out for a test drive just before me and it was NOT fully charged. There was plenty of "pedal regen" in L (which I think would also be curtailed if the battery was topped off, right?) but absolutely NONE for the paddle.
Given that we just had the "nanny" triple-honk put on our Volts for leaving them on, I would think that GM's lawyers would have mandated that there be some kind of "indicator" to warn drivers that regen is not available--use the friction brakes. I could see someone expecting to get regen, not getting it, and rear-ending someone. Next thing you know GM is getting sued...
Given that we just had the "nanny" triple-honk put on our Volts for leaving them on, I would think that GM's lawyers would have mandated that there be some kind of "indicator" to warn drivers that regen is not available--use the friction brakes. I could see someone expecting to get regen, not getting it, and rear-ending someone. Next thing you know GM is getting sued...
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They got you covered... the auto breaking won't let you hit the car in front of you
I'm not going to test it like I tested the lane keeper (it worked perfectly by nudging the Bolt back into the lane), but I assume the auto breaking will work perfectly too.
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You can test the auto braking safely. I saw a show that created dummy cars from a light wood frame covered with cardboard, then painted to look like a rear end with fake lights. Choose a safe street or parking area that has space to run and test. Set up the dummy with space behind it. Then run at it at 30 MPH or better. If your car stops, it passed the test. But if it doesn't, the dummy will fall over, and running the car over the cardboard will not damage the test car or its bumper.They got you covered... the auto breaking won't let you hit the car in front of you
I'm not going to test it like I tested the lane keeper (it worked perfectly by nudging the Bolt back into the lane), but I assume the auto breaking will work perfectly too.
You can do the same with dummy pedestrians and test the pedestrian detection system.
You can rent Bolts by the hour from Maven in Los Angeles. Get some realistic store mannequins and make You Tube history!
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Using the paddle in "L" definitely adds more regen and deceleration. Whether I noticed it varies by terrain. I experience best results when descending down steep hills. It's like turning regen to "11."
Sounds like more testing is in order...Somewhat surprising a dealer has it absolutely 100% charged, you figure by the end of the test drive there would be enough of a drain to notice a difference...
Except to get "auto breaking" you need to change trims to the Premier and add an infotainment package...Also, unless I missed a news article, the point of it is a last resort/soften the blow functionality vs autonomous braking...Perhaps under certain conditions such as single digit speeds it could indeed prevent a collision, but it wasn't designed to be used as an ACC replacement...They got you covered... the auto breaking won't let you hit the car in front of you
I'm not going to test it like I tested the lane keeper (it worked perfectly by nudging the Bolt back into the lane), but I assume the auto breaking will work perfectly too.
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I sure as heck hope not! I don't want a car that breaks automatically, I want one that brakes automatically.
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LOL... yeah, I had plenty of old cars (Fiat's, Triumphs, MGB...) that break automatically.
It automatically broke as soon as you completed the previou$$ repair
Today, on my first commute to and from work with the Bolt... I did not hit the brake pedal for the full 50 mi round trip. I stopped the charge at work when the app indicated 99% (222mi range) complete. I had full regen after that.
It automatically broke as soon as you completed the previou$$ repair
Today, on my first commute to and from work with the Bolt... I did not hit the brake pedal for the full 50 mi round trip. I stopped the charge at work when the app indicated 99% (222mi range) complete. I had full regen after that.
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Are they actually available yet? I saw the announcement, but when I called Maven they couldn't say whether or not...
I signed up, it showed the Bolt on the app, but it was hourly only, so I didn't do it. No daily rates.
There is a white line in the regen portion of the DIC that indicates the max regen available given the SOC (and possibly other factors, such as temperature). If the max regen available is equal to or less than the max regen in L, using the Regen on Demand paddle will have no effect. In fact, you won't even be experiencing the full regenerative braking force from L.
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