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Use of KERS (regenerative braking) on the MG ZS EV

rmbobbles

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I have been the different articles regarding range etc. and notice that KERS is hardly mentioned.
Why is this, I would be interested to know how this has been used, and if so does this affect obtainable range
 
Yes it’s energy collected via the motor under its own natural braking that is feed back in to the battery and it does increase the vehicle range.
 
I generally have it set to 3 the whole time. On motorways it can be slightly aggressive, so sometimes drop it down to 2. It definitely makes a different to mileage. Around citys/towns it can make a huge difference, hence why the estimated urban range is 220miles compared to 160miles. If you are going down a long hill you can actually see it adding range to the GOM.

cheers
nick
 
Cheers Nick, exactly what I was going to say in reply, albeit I keep in level 3 all the time to get the maximum return; I’ve got used to it now and look ahead and plan my braking leaving more time for the car to get maximum return, also increasing the life of my brake pads too.
 
At first I was a bit unsettled by the fierceness of the level 3 setting and a bit disappointed that it reverted back to level 3 by default on startup. But now I have got used to easing off the accelerator pedal gradually instead of just foot off, I find it a lot easier. I don't know if I'm getting the most regeneration using this technique, but it smooths out the fierceness and makes for a more pleasant drive. ;)
 
I use level 3. You will probably have noticed that if your battery is fully charged, there is very little re-gen braking.....as there is nowhere for the power to go to!

On some other EV's, its even more noticeable and often referred to as "one pedal driving".
 
Is there not an argument to turn off the regenerative breaking on busy (but moving)motorways? I would have thought it more efficient to be able to coast when traffic ahead is changing speeds, rather then to lose speed quickly and have to use the battery to get you up to speed again. I have only test driven the car and now waiting for mine to arrive so I’m not basing that on much!
 
You can switch to a lower level and I get what you are saying, but Personally I manage with Regen level 3 for all driving conditions and roads.
 
I think it's a matter of simply getting used to a different driving style when moving from legacy cars to EV. I remember my first EV test drive (Kia e-Niro) where the single biggest difference I found was the regen. it took me all of 4 minutes to adapt and I was in max regen (a lot more aggressive than the MG's "3" setting) very quickly. Since then I've never looked back. One critizism I have of the MG is that the regen is not aggressive enough (does anyone use anything other than "3" as their standard setting??) - I would like to see them shift their levels down a step, such that "1" is like the current "2", "2" is like the current "3" and "3" is a much more aggressive level which would give us true one-pedal driving (which the Kia has, as well as many other EVs such as Nissan Leaf etc). Even on motorways, full regen is usable and useful - you just get used to being more gentle with backing off the "gas". This is the future, as it makes for much more energy-efficient motoring compared with legacy cars.
 
Good point re. brake lights. I'm pretty sure I read something about this in the MG manual, saying that brake lights do indeed come on under strong regen. Regarding the Kia, I was told by the Kia dealer that, at least with the max. regen setting, brake lights do come on when using strong regen, so it looks like the EV manufacturers are on the case with this one.
 
I have a white MG and at night you can definitely see a red light glow reflecting on the top of the rear hatch when level 3 regen is in use whilst not braking (overrun). I seem to recall testing this by then switching to level 1 and the reflecting stopped.
 
I think it's a matter of simply getting used to a different driving style when moving from legacy cars to EV. I remember my first EV test drive (Kia e-Niro) where the single biggest difference I found was the regen. it took me all of 4 minutes to adapt and I was in max regen (a lot more aggressive than the MG's "3" setting) very quickly. Since then I've never looked back. One critizism I have of the MG is that the regen is not aggressive enough (does anyone use anything other than "3" as their standard setting??) - I would like to see them shift their levels down a step, such that "1" is like the current "2", "2" is like the current "3" and "3" is a much more aggressive level which would give us true one-pedal driving (which the Kia has, as well as many other EVs such as Nissan Leaf etc). Even on motorways, full regen is usable and useful - you just get used to being more gentle with backing off the "gas". This is the future, as it makes for much more energy-efficient motoring compared with legacy cars.
So if you feather the throttle does it still regen ? I assumed that the motor can only do two things regen or drive - like a two way switch on or off. DangerousDoug when you back off the gas does it show as regen on the instrument cluster ?
 
I think it depends how much "feather" you apply, the gauge will show you if it does.
 
Regarding regen when "feathering" the throttle, the regen is very progressive and controllable, so yes, you can back off the trottle and have no regen at all (just coasting) or back off some more and have the regen come in gradually (all on setting 3) - so it's just a matter of being light-footed :)
 
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