John McLellan
New Member
We may be getting our first snow in our area. We have Auto regen on by default. How does regen behave on snowy roads? Is it too aggressive or should we turn it off?
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Auto Regen in the snow
- Thread starter John McLellan
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R P
Well-Known Member
It is the level of regen for each drive mode that you may want to adjust down when it turns slippery. I currently have level 3 for ECO which I use mostly, and a couple times last winter adjusted that down, just to be safe. You can get understeer (front wheels slipping on a turn) with too much regen. Better to use your real brakes to slow down then and let ABS do its job to prevent sliding to where you don't want to go.
But this current forecast where you might see some flakes is not a concern. They will melt as soon as they meet the pavement. It is black ice when it really gets cold that is more dangerous, because you may not know it until too late.
nigels
Active Member
I use regen level 3 all the time and had the same concern last winter. It's fine if you drive smoothly and plan ahead, as you should always do, but especially in the snow. What isn't great is when you have to react quickly, for example rounding a corner to find a stopped vehicle or pedestrian. Your instinct will be to immediately lift off and this will trigger regen braking which would have a similar effect to hitting the brakes. This could cause loss of control. I backed off regen when driving on snowy roads. It gave me some peace of mind by feeling more in familiar territory based on years of driving non-EVs. Another thing to beware of is that the Kona is a pretty heavy vehicle. This gives you good straight line traction, but makes losing control on corners harder to correct.
EricP
Member
Like the previous commenters, I put on dedicated winter tires, and just left default regen (level 2) in Normal mode last winter. And drove sensibly. I wouldn't use the most aggressive regen in slippery conditions, and I think the scenario of a sudden need to react is best handled by adjusting your speed to the road conditions and visibility, as well as the stability control.
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The OP asked about auto regen. It's on by default on my Kona and I regularly see regen change from 1 (my default level) to 3 in traffic. I ran with it turned on last winter, when we might have had two or three weeks of snow and ice, and did not encounter a problem. I did notice, though, that auto regen was turned off when I got my vehicle back from the BMS upgrade, which implies that 'off' is the factory setting.
In slippery conditions I leave a larger gap to the car in front and tend to brake well before auto regen would activate at level 3, but the question has made me think. When the snow comes this year I plan to turn auto regen off to avoid surprises. I can always use the paddles.
In slippery conditions I leave a larger gap to the car in front and tend to brake well before auto regen would activate at level 3, but the question has made me think. When the snow comes this year I plan to turn auto regen off to avoid surprises. I can always use the paddles.
JumpingIntoEV
New Member
If I am on a highway and not going to be starting and stopping, no reason to brake, I leave it off. When city driving I leave it at 1 or off unless I know I'll be starting and stopping a lot and don't want to be applying the brakes after few seconds. If I am going down an incline I will use Regen to recapture some of the energy used on ascent. I do not know the mechanics of the Kona's regen, but the load/resistance I feel with it applied, and the instant boost I feel when using the paddles to turn it off, seem to imply that it is making the engine overcome that resistance. And if the engine is using energy in the background to create energy, it is definitely using more than it's creating. I had zero issues with Regen or braking last Winter - but I also had Winter tires on the car. Driving across Upstate NY, Northern PA and Ontario for 40 years, in both AWD and FWD vehicles, the best thing to improve performance and handling in Winter is to use Winter tires. I found the Kona EV, maybe partly due to the batteries weighing so much and being mounted in the floor, seems to have a lower center of gravity than other vehicles I have owned like a RAV4 or CRV, and really feels solid on snow and ice. I would not worry about Regen - I'd worry about tires.
The Northerner
New Member
Hi John.
I have driven through two winters and I am finding that since the resistance to forward motion happens internally, rather than relying on the friction between your tires and a questionable road surface, braking happens to be much faster and without breaking traction at the wheels. It's surprising how good it is.
I recommend that you find an open space in a parking lot after a wet snow day and experiment with differing REGEN settings to prove the theory. Once you have gained confidence with how the vehicle will react then try a bit of a hill under the same conditions to learn again how the Kona will react.
Name already taken
New Member
If the snow is not compact and icy, and you have good winter tires, not as big a deal. On compact snow and a downhill with regen 3, even with good winter tires, I've let off the "gas" pedal and it was like locking brakes, complete with skid. To be on the safe side, maybe drive in regen 2 in dodgy conditions.