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[vinceherman]

At the very far end of extreme usage I've dumped a 12kWh charge on my ZF13.0 in 30mi... for science...!? 

Team WFO

[Scotchman]

I am seeing responses for both 0% and 100% regen.  Both camps seems to argue efficiency as at least one of the reasons.  I understand that 0% regen allows coasting which may be more efficient than putting power back into the battery.  However, the factor not really directly addressed so far is the wear on the brake pads.  Has anyone thought about whether it is more efficient to use 0% regen, but replace brake pads more often, vs 100% regen and barely use the brakes?  Or is the difference minor?

[Shadow]

... the wear on the brake pads.  Has anyone thought about whether it is more efficient to use 0% regen, but replace brake pads more often, vs 100% regen and barely use the brakes?  Or is the difference minor?

Regen makes a real impact on brake wear. I have Custom mode set to 80% or 100% regen-on-brake (depends on road trip) and otherwise regen is not active for off-throttle. On Highway I'm using Custom, and as I approach an onramp for suburban or city areas I switch to Eco for that off-throttle regen. I find that in really slow lanesplitting-ideal traffic I will also use Eco because off-throttle regen makes it simpler for me to balance and maneuver the bike at lower speeds versus using the higher settings of regen-on-brake.

[KrazyEd]

I have been riding / driving electric vehicles for about a dozen years. Everyone cranks up the regen as high as possible when they first get their vehicle in order to help range.
I have found that this generally causes you to slow too much then have to accelerate again because you stopped too short. I run around 15%~20% under trailing throttle
with full for braking. Has worked well for my FX and SR. Also had a lifetime regen rate of 22% on my Focus Electric using Drive with LOW for slowing down. Many Volt owners
feel that it is best to keep in low all the time. I keep my 2017 Volt in Drive, using the paddle almost exclusively for slowing and stopping, only using the foot brake for keeping the
car from moving forward once stopped. Chevrolet says it should get 53 miles on electric. I AVERAGE 80~90 miles on a charge ( extreme hypermiling ).

[Richard230]

I have been riding / driving electric vehicles for about a dozen years. Everyone cranks up the regen as high as possible when they first get their vehicle in order to help range.
I have found that this generally causes you to slow too much then have to accelerate again because you stopped too short. I run around 15%~20% under trailing throttle
with full for braking. Has worked well for my FX and SR. Also had a lifetime regen rate of 22% on my Focus Electric using Drive with LOW for slowing down. Many Volt owners
feel that it is best to keep in low all the time. I keep my 2017 Volt in Drive, using the paddle almost exclusively for slowing and stopping, only using the foot brake for keeping the
car from moving forward once stopped. Chevrolet says it should get 53 miles on electric. I AVERAGE 80~90 miles on a charge ( extreme hypermiling ).

I do the same, except I have the regen turned completely off on a trailing throttle and max regen when braking. That seems to work best for city riding between stop signals.  I get up to speed and then coast to the next signal. 

[BamBam]

I thought I would chime in with a few comments on the subject.  I've only recently started playing around with the custom mode.  I now have motor regen set to 0% and brake regen set to approximately 100%.  These are the settings I prefer for my daily commuting and I pretty much now only ride in custom mode.  The 0% motor regen allows me to give the bike a quick burst of the throttle and then coast the rest of the way.

Perhaps someone can answer this question for me.  When using the Zero app to adjust the regen, torque, and speed settings, should I be able to set the percentage anywhere between 0 and 100?  I went into the custom mode setting the other day and the app kept resetting the brake regen to 87% when I would set it at 100%.  The speed would also revert to 90 MPH when I tried to set it at maximum.

Edit:  I forgot to mention that I find the Eco mode on my 2017 DSR to be practically useless.

[Richard230]

I thought I would chime in with a few comments on the subject.  I've only recently started playing around with the custom mode.  I now have motor regen set to 0% and brake regen set to approximately 100%.  These are the settings I prefer for my daily commuting and I pretty much now only ride in custom mode.  The 0% motor regen allows me to give the bike a quick burst of the throttle and then coast the rest of the way.

Perhaps someone can answer this question for me.  When using the Zero app to adjust the regen, torque, and speed settings, should I be able to set the percentage anywhere between 0 and 100?  I went into the custom mode setting the other day and the app kept resetting the brake regen to 87% when I would set it at 100%.  The speed would also revert to 90 MPH when I tried to set it at maximum.

Edit:  I forgot to mention that I find the Eco mode on my 2017 DSR to be practically useless.

I agree with Eco mode being pretty much useless, except when the streets are very slippery. My custom mode seems to be relatively stable. Perhaps that 90 mph top speed is fixed to the top speed of your model Zero? 

[BamBam]

I took a look at the specs again for my bike and noticed that the top "sustained" speed is 90 MPH so maybe that is why the app maxes out at that speed in custom mode.

[Scotchman]

I tried 0% off-throttle and 100% brake regen, and I am loving it.  Watching the range estimate it definitely appears to be more efficient than eco mode, at least anecdotally.  I only have about 20-30 miles on this but so far its looking like I will live in Custom mode from now on.

Another benefit not mentioned so far, is if I am slowing, my brake light is on.  It always weirded me out slowing down substantially via regen, with my brake light not on.  Just pulling in the front brake enough to activate the regen and brake light is enough to do all my "planned" braking until I'm under 5mph.

[togo]

I am seeing responses for both 0% and 100% regen.  Both camps seems to argue efficiency as at least one of the reasons.  I understand that 0% regen allows coasting which may be more efficient than putting power back into the battery.  However, the factor not really directly addressed so far is the wear on the brake pads.  Has anyone thought about whether it is more efficient to use 0% regen, but replace brake pads more often, vs 100% regen and barely use the brakes?  Or is the difference minor?

Oversimplified. 

1. coasting is more efficient then accel + regen

2. accel + regen is more efficient than accel + friction braking

What's your riding style and route?  If you can do #1, then regen is pointless for you.

Brake pad wear is a different issue.  It's an expense, but it's not energy efficiency.