[Random]

I noticed recently that my regen on demand paddle does not seem to be working at the beginning of my drive below freezing (20's) for maybe five to ten minutes.

When I press the paddle (D or L) foot not on the go pedal, I hear something rev up, no idea if engine or a hydraulic pump. I think the engine has been on each time this happened. Later, it works normally.

2017 G2 Premier 1 and 2 pkgs, ACC

Anyone else experience this?

 

[scrambler]

The only thing I can think of, is if your battery has been charged to its max. At that point it cannot accept any more charge, so regen is disabled.

But when you just do a full charge, there is normally a small buffer built in that still allows some extra charge coming from regen.
That said, I heard about some people overcharging using the pre conditioning of the car while plugged in.
I have also seen that when leaving the home from the top of a hill, as I go down, regen adds to an already full battery, and at one point regen stops working.

 

[Arcanox]

If you hear something rev up when you hit the paddle, your engine is probably running due to temperature (ERDTT). Hitting the paddle disconnects a clutch in the drivetrain causing slightly less load on the engine, thus it revs up. That causes the engine to generate slightly more power, which leaves less "room" for the battery to accept regenerative braking power, so the paddle feels weak.

If it's 20 *F, you can go into Vehicle Settings > Climate & Air Quality > Engine Assist Heat and choose Deferred. That will prevent the engine from running above 15 *F.

 

[Lumos]

How cold was the battery? If you were parked overnight in very cold weather w/o being plugged in the battery can get too cold to accept rapid charging.

-Lumos
2014 gen 1

 

[chevyman142000]

I have had the same in my 17 and just assume that it is because the battery is already full.

 

[llninja]

When you start your car, instead of a normally quiet start, does the engine start up right away? When that happens to me on a gen 1 that means it's really cold outside and you left the car unplugged and didn't precondition the battery. In that situation, cycling through the drive modes will not allow me to select some of the modes, so I imagine regen is also disabled. Basically ice is supplying all the traction electricity until the battery's heaters can warm the batteries sufficiently. Think of it as battery preservation. You don't want to be charging or discharging a frozen battery and destroying its longevity.

 

[telveer]

Normal ... if your battery is very cold, BMS may not take in a charge. Try precondition before leaving. Even on a full xharge, there is enough buffer to accept charge and provide regen. Unless you filled the charge bugger going downhill, regen should work from get go on a conditioned battery

 

[Random]

I have noticed the regen paddle not working mostly on a steep down hill gradient early in my drive, I bet there isn't enough battery buffer available so early after a full charge. That, combined with the clutch disconnect, probably explains all of what I am seeing.

The garage is unheated, but except for summer thunderstorms, I leave the Volt always plugged in. Usually I do precondition, but sometimes I forget to. Not sure if that correlates to the regen paddle not working early in the drive. I will try to remember to check.

Sounds like all is well, no technical issues, just a matter of opening up a large enough buffer beyond what is there at full charge, to accept the regen energy, especially with a steep down hill grade at the beginning of the drive. Thanks!

 

[gjm3]

I noticed recently that my regen on demand paddle does not seem to be working at the beginning of my drive below freezing (20's) for maybe five to ten minutes.

When I press the paddle (D or L) foot not on the go pedal, I hear something rev up, no idea if engine or a hydraulic pump. I think the engine has been on each time this happened. Later, it works normally.

2017 G2 Premier 1 and 2 pkgs, ACC

Anyone else experience this?

I noticed a similar issue with my 2016 Premier model, although I live in Southern California and do not experience temperatures in the 20s. I found that in our winter (temperatures below about 50 degrees F in my garage) the regenerative braking (either by the paddle or by using the ‘L’ position) didn’t work for the first couple of minutes or so of driving. I recently took the car in to have the ‘reduced propulsion’ and ‘front camera freezing’ software updates. Since then, even when temperatures drop below 50, the regen has always worked immediately. Also before these updates, the ‘maximum startup volume ‘ setting for the radio in the radio settings never worked – whatever I set it to, the radio would always start up at a very low volume. Now it works fine after the software upgrade. Strange. I’m not sure if this applies to a 2017 Volt.

 

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

Hello everyone,

We've taken the time to review this thread, and we wanted to weigh in with some insight from our end. To clarify, regenerative braking may become inoperative regardless of battery temperature or charge. This is true in all of our hybrid and electric products. The system will automatically reduce the amount of energy flowing into the battery to prevent damage and promote a longer battery life. It is likely that what you hear is the engine spinning up to help slow the vehicle, similar to manually downshifting a traditional car to slow down. The reprogramming mentioned by gjm3 may also be of benefit to you.

We would be happy to see if this applies to your vehicle. To do so, please send us your VIN in a private message.

Best,
Lauren E.
Chevrolet Customer Care