R P
Well-Known Member
When I had my Kona, and drove in snow and ice, it became obvious very quickly that regen was dangerous. Brakes will invoke regen. But regen will not invoke brakes and ABS, just pressing the brake pedal will. On ice, it doesn't take a lot of regen to make your front wheels lose grip. They don't need to lock up to slip and slide.Doesn't the Kona's traction-control system control both the brakes and regen? In 3 winters, my MINI Cooper SE's traction-control system has never allowed full regen to lock up my front wheels in the slippery stuff. It also works for acceleration--when I floor it in the slippery stuff, the car just creeps forward, refusing to spin the front wheels.
On the flat, you can get away with regen on snow and ice, as long as you are not too aggressive with letting off the pedal. But on a steep downhill, you might as well have been riding a sled if you didn't use your brake pedal. The ABS brake chatter, however, did a decent job of keeping your front wheels attached to the ground as best as could be. I have even been in extreme ice conditions going down a hill, where I had to have two wheels off the main track close to the curb, to maintain control. We had one of those close to home, and what made it really bad is that there was a stop sign on the bottom!! Definitely had the pucker factor on strong a couple times.