Seeking Regen and AC Recommendations for New Owner

[HazardLights]

I've finally ordered my Volcano Orange MG4 Trophy LR and after test driving an MG4 this week I have some questions. I think it may be useful to understand the driving style I am coming from as I suspect I will need to change.

My former sports car driving self would be surprised to learn that I have became a very sedate driver that gets a kick out of the improved efficiency of cars and drive very sedately (my, both manual, 2014 Ibiza does 59 mpg and my 2021 Octavia gets 65-68 mpg when I am driving). On the Ibiza I find that even if I completely lift my foot from the pedal it doesn't seem to engine brake but instead the car still provides enough throttle to maintain current speed. I have therefore become very light on the pedal or not at all.

With the MG4 if I lifted my foot completely off the pedal if I remember rightly it would decelerate to varying degrees depending on the regen setting used.

1. Should I be using regen 1 on motorway and regen 3 in busy traffic and regen 2 on back roads where queues are less common?
2. With regen 1 will I still need a little accelerator? It's not a big deal as driving was very, very relaxing once LKA was off (and LKA wasn't as bad as it is on my Octavia although easier to disable on Octavia)
3. Different cars have different humidity/steaming up characteristics. What is a sensible air conditioning balance between AC comfort and efficiency? Do you run AC on all the time? Alternatively do you run the fans without AC except when carrying 4 passengers or in winter? I intend to make liberal use of steering wheel and seat heaters.

Sorry for having so many questions but I want to spend a minimum amount of time fiddling with settings when I start driving my new car as I want my mind to be on the road so I don't have to remove deer from my face.

Thanks,
HazardLights

 

[siteguru]

1. Regen 1 is akin to engine braking in a typical diesel car, and is probably better to use on motorways/fast A roads, as long as you're not using adaptive cruise control (ACC). If you use ACC then the car decides on how much regen to apply to slow down regardless of what regen setting you've set.

Regen 3 is better around town/in stop-start traffic. This is the default setting that car uses on each start.

2. In all cases you can feather the throttle such that the regen mode can be irrelevant.

3. My car's HVAC controls at about 4°C higher than actual. So I have it set for 25°C target and Auto control. However I have the SE so no seat or steering wheel heating.

 

[Anon70]

For regen I tend to use A which lets the car decide how much regen to use based on various conditions (proximity of car in front etc). When I want to clean up the brake discs I will use 1 to force the mechanical brakes to work more than the regen.

One pedal driving (OPD) will also add extra regen above level 3, but is great for stop start motoring.

In general the level of regen and the OPD setting will be down to personal preference and how much control you feel you have with the accelerator pedal (which you get used to pretty quickly).

On a damp day with the climate on auto and ECO you will probably start to get the windows steaming up but a quick blast with the front demist shortcut button sorts this out. the other thing to remember is the temperature is what the car reads at the vents not in the cabin so you tend to need the degrees slightly higher than you might be used to in other cars (I have mine at 24 and auto).

 

[phil99]

Realistically you need to work these all out for yourself. Everyone has different preferences and will prefer things to work in different ways. The way I set the car varies from day to day depending on my mood and what my planned journey is. There is no right answer.

Try it out for yourself in different situations with different settings. Experiment with it, safely of course.

Efficiency isn’t everything. Obviously its relevant, but drivability and enjoyment are factors.

 

[Mainsy]

I always stick to the default regen 3, I find it best suits my driving, I tried the one pedal but didn't like it (i do more motorway and duel carriageway driving than around town) but I guess its each to their own on this one, whatever suits you best

 

[HazardLights]

I now stick to the default so I don't have to tweak the settings whenever I get in. It seemed a little aggressive at first but I soon got used to it. I sometimes have spells of ACC during long motorway drives. I don't use the break pedal much at all. I did try using the other settings but in the end changing seemed too much effort.

 

[Rolfe]

I now stick to the default so I don't have to tweak the settings whenever I get in. It seemed a little aggressive at first but I soon got used to it. I sometimes have spells of ACC during long motorway drives. I don't use the break pedal much at all. I did try using the other settings but in the end changing seemed too much effort.

If you programme the regen settings on to one of the star buttons, it's no effort at all.

 

[decrep]

As said every body is different.
I am also a frugal driver, (most of the time)
I set regen to OPD every drive, wish I could make it permanent!

I love being able to control every thing with the go pedal.
Getting max regen as you slow is the most efficient.
There is a max amount of regen the battery can take, so if you do a very fast stop, you'll be using the friction brakes. So where possible I slow slowly.
As said it only took a short drive to get the feel of the pedal.
If I've been driving my ICE car for a while, the first return to the wife's MG can see me lifting my foot rather faster than I would prefer. But that only happens very first slow down, after that I'm in OPD mode.
Just like the wiper/indicator stalks, the old brain has to change cars.

 

[gary333]

Getting max regen as you slow is the most efficient.

You can't be more wrong on this one. Far more efficient to slow down with the lowest level of regen you can get away with in the distance you have left. Start lifting off early with regen L1 and coming to a stop via coasting is much more efficient than leaving braking to the last minute and using full regen L25.

 

[Anon70]

Tried to find some maths to back up how regen impacts efficiency. What I have noticed is that the car uses the most energy moving from a stand still to any speed. The more speed/energy you remove from the car (higher regen) the more energy it will take to get it back to the original speed. If you can lower the difference between your lower and higher speeds the less energy you will require to travel the same distance..

 

[decrep]

You can't be more wrong on this one. Far more efficient to slow down with the lowest level of regen you can get away with in the distance you have left. Start lifting off early with regen L1 and coming to a stop via coasting is much more efficient than leaving braking to the last minute and using full regen L25.

Sorry you have me 100% wrong.
I said getting max regen. I didn't say slow down as quickly as possible. Getting Max regen implies not using friction brakes at all.
Getting max regen is only possible if you don't slow down too fast.
Regen level makes very little difference, it only affects the way the accelerator works!
So yes in level one you slow down very slowly, and may end up using friction brakes if you time it wrong. with OPD you can time it exactly only using regen, with no friction brakes.

 

[decrep]

The more speed/energy you remove from the car (higher regen) the more energy it will take to get it back to the original speed. If you can lower the difference between your lower and higher speeds the less energy you will require to travel the same distance..

This is only a valid argument if you have a very unsteady right foot.