Do not be scared of using that charge button.

[littlescrote]

I disagree here. Don't you want to be gliding downhill whenever you don't need to be actively slowing the car down? Say on a long straight downhill. You've already paid for the energy to get up the hill - if you regen too hard, you'll need to accelerate sooner. That's inefficient. And when you're topping a rise, you want to accelerate just enough to get you over, and then immediately start gliding downhill. it's much easier in B0 to just let off the gas than to precisely modulate the pedal in any other setting.

And in B0, you can give your calf muscle a rest for a minute when descending. That's nice on a long drive.

'gliding' is best for efficiency, yes. But not at the expense of safety. If doing that downhill is going to mean that you don't have control of your speed, then it's not a good idea.

You'll find if you drive in B5 all the time, it's pretty easy to find the 'balance' point of where you're 'gliding' and even if you're not spot on a few kW here and there makes very little difference to the overall efficiency. It's still better than throwing all of it away on mechanical braking which you will do sooner in B0 than B5.

In the end, it's user preference but you said that you didn't want to be constantly changing B modes so the most efficient way of recovering energy on a hilly drive in a single B mode is in B5, not B0, especially with skilful use of the pedal which can replicate B0 anyway.

[greendwarf]

I'm a great believer in B0 driving especially in urban areas at 20/30 mph but have found 2 scenarios where B5 works better for me.

When on cruise control in my Gx3h (no ACC) I can almost dispense with right foot driving by using the steering wheel control to increase or decrease speed as necessary and cancel CC, which brings in more heavy braking via the B5 setting, if needed.

On twisting de-limited roads B5 gives me a similar drive as using engine braking in a conventional car without all the left arm working up and down the gears i.e. I can keep both hands on the steering wheel - clearly safer

[ThudnBlundr]

I'm a great believer in B5 motoring, because I can do everything that anyone can do in B0, plus I don't have to faff around with the paddles or the brake pedal if I want the extra regen. You get much the same max regen when you press the brake pedal whichever 'B' mode you're in, so no extra brake wear (unless you have to brake harder)

But each to their own.

[oscarmax]

+1 for B5 I use as a default

[Fjpod]

What happens exactly when you get Turtled? Can you maintain 60 mph going uphill? Could you accelerate to 70 mph if you wanted to?

I was able to maintain 60 mph uphilll, but no longer had the torque to accelerate hard. I don't think I could have gotten up to 70. Fortunately the Turtle showed up close to the top of each hill, but I didn't have time to do much experimentation.

Is the Turtle an indication that your battery is so low, that it can no longer contribute to maintaining or increasing speed?

[Fjpod]

I'm a great believer in B5 motoring, because I can do everything that anyone can do in B0, plus I don't have to faff around with the paddles or the brake pedal if I want the extra regen. You get much the same max regen when you press the brake pedal whichever 'B' mode you're in, so no extra brake wear (unless you have to brake harder)

But each to their own.

But at high speeds, you have to be very careful that you don't let your foot off the accelerator much... even at medium speeds.

[nkane]

Alright, next road trip I'll try some B5. But I remain skeptical.

[nkane]

What happens exactly when you get Turtled? Can you maintain 60 mph going uphill? Could you accelerate to 70 mph if you wanted to?

I was able to maintain 60 mph uphilll, but no longer had the torque to accelerate hard. I don't think I could have gotten up to 70. Fortunately the Turtle showed up close to the top of each hill, but I didn't have time to do much experimentation.

Is the Turtle an indication that your battery is so low, that it can no longer contribute to maintaining or increasing speed?

That's my understanding. Trex's graph on the first page of this thread show the Turtle icon between 26% and 13% SoC. I guess I don't want to know what happens below 13%....

[kpetrov]

+1 for B5 I use as a default

+2 for B5 I use as a default.

[Trex]

That's my understanding. Trex's graph on the first page of this thread show the Turtle icon between 26% and 13% SoC. I guess I don't want to know what happens below 13%....

From memory below 13% it shuts down the car to allow for starting the ICE when petrol is added ie to get below 13% usually no petrol in PHEV left. To stop you getting to 13% in the PHEV it does some special events like switching from parallel mode to series mode if series can provide more power at the speeds you are traveling ( happens at approx 26% battery level) then shutting down climate control (heating and air-conditioner) at 22% and power reduction at 17% if battery levels drop further. But without going through all my old literature that's how I remember it. Hopefully my memory is still good.

Note this is for the older model PHEVs. Have heard on the new 2023 PHEV it may have a lower than approx 30% buffer.