Some objective noise level readings

"On the downhill the regen braking will charge the battery - yes?"

Agree unless the battery is already at a high SOC

"Does using HV charge mode on downhill add something above what the regen braking does? Enough to deal with the extra work of switching between modes going up and down hills?"

No & No

 

I believe HV charge mode on downhills should have the ICE running in addition to the braking/paddle regen.
Is it worth switching back and forth between HV and HV Charge ? You be the judge based on battery level.

 

Individual preferences and circumstances vary.

Coasting, braking, or paddles downhill may give some regen, and HV charge mode will not interfere with that.

It seems the ICE charging rate is all the battery can handle, so if there is regen occurring the ICE is not able to additionally charge the battery. The ICE 'waits' until the regen is done before charging the battery. The ICE may be on and off, depending on terrain and charge level. HV mode will use the ICE to recharge the battery to the HV starting charge. If this charge level is sufficient, there is no reason to use HV charge mode.

Individual preferences vary: I reset HV mode on long inclines to avoid high-revs on the ICE. Doing this for numerous inclines will cause the battery charge to decrease. HV mode will not use the ICE to bring the charge above the level that HV mode started at or was reset. HV charge mode can restore the charge up to 58%

In cold weather, I find keeping the battery at a lower charge will keep the ICE rpm's better controlled. When I start my inclines with this low charge level, I may have to use HV charge mode to get the charge to a comfortable level after an incline. I do not allow HV charge mode to go up to 57%, but just use it to bring up the baseline charge level.

Obviously, individual preferences vary, but I do not find switching modes a couple times in a 2-hour trip to be excessive, to maintain a quiet ride. I really enjoy the quiet ride of EV mode, and gear mode.

 

When I switch back to the regular tires from the X-Ice's I am going to check out the inner fender wells. I wonder about adding some sound deadening? Either spray or maybe something like Dynamat (not sure you can use this exposed to the elements, I doubt it would hold up. Also doubt I could access the top of the fender liner without alot of disassembly). I am hoping a few of you audio folks have used various noise reducing items.

 

The wheel wells have some odd felt-like material that eliminates the possibility of adding insulation with removing it first. I have large roll of Fatmat and a large roll of Dynamat that will go into the doors/hood/firewall/trunk as soon as the weather warms up. I'll report back.

 

I use the hv charge only if im more than about 50 miles from home. The mountain i travel down is around 85 miles from my home. So this adds charge that i can use in the city. It is true that just using sport mode will give alot of regen charge, but probably not from about 2 bars to 58 % in 20 miles or so. So i think i depends on your situation whether its worth it or not.

 

Technically, the default regen is the same in ECON, NORMAL, and SPORT Modes. The advantage of SPORT Mode is that when you select a higher level of regen in SPORT Mode, it sticks until you change it.

 

The regen level goes back to the default level (1) when you engage ACC.