Zs Ev Eco, Normal, Sport

[Muffin]

Best way to use the 3 settings Eco Normal and Sport

 

[Jomarkh]

There is no best way, I just use ECO or sometimes sports off the lights.
It is all down to driving style and what you get comfortable with

 

[GVEMs]

Best for me: normal mode and max regen at all time


... and a bit of sport mode when you want to take off at the traffic light

 

[sgt4hed]

you can get the same economy from normal mode as you do get in eco, you just need a lighter right foot.

 

[fatboyfat1981]

you can get the same economy from normal mode as you do get in eco, you just need a lighter right foot.

True, however some of us (ahem, me…) have no self control so pootle about in Eco, plenty quick enough for the commute.

Haven’t really used Normal yet, Sport is for embarrassing Mercs off the lights and/or my inner 18 year old comes out to play.

 

[Striker]

you can get the same economy from normal mode as you do get in eco, you just need a lighter right foot.

That's no doubt true, easy if you're at constant speeds,but not so easy for my journey's where on on twisty country lanes, speeding up and slowing down for each corner

I think that the ECO is more subtle than we give it credit for, I'm guessing that it limits the max throttle, which has the effect of lengthening the pedal travel at the lower end, but I think that it also softens the power response. So in practice a change of pedal position takes longer to respond than in other modes. Try it in ECO, make an approx 50% increase in throttle, then in Sport, even a 25% increase gets a more immediate response

So when changing throttle, in the higher modes, not only do you need to apply less throttle, you also have to apply the change a lot slower. That's why I tend to opt for ECO when I remember, it takes less care to get more mileage

 

[Kithmo]

That's no doubt true, easy if you're at constant speeds,but not so easy for my journey's where on on twisty country lanes, speeding up and slowing down for each corner

I think that the ECO is more subtle than we give it credit for, I'm guessing that it limits the max throttle, which has the effect of lengthening the pedal travel at the lower end, but I think that it also softens the power response. So in practice a change of pedal position takes longer to respond than in other modes. Try it in ECO, make an approx 50% increase in throttle, then in Sport, even a 25% increase gets a more immediate response

So when changing throttle, in the higher modes, not only do you need to apply less throttle, you also have to apply the change a lot slower. That's why I tend to opt for ECO when I remember, it takes less care to get more mileage

It doesn't limit max pedal response, that's the same in any mode it's the pedal map that's altered.
Similar to this:

 

[Maciej]

Normal all the way eco feels sluggish and the fact that air con is crap in eco is just unusable to me. Sport is fine Bot normal is plenty fast for me and don't feel like I need any more acceleration. What I would really want is for KERS to go to like 5 I don't feel the regeneration strong enough even on max settings

 

[Kithmo]

I usually just leave my 2020 ZS in Normal mode but have tried ECO a few times.
ECO mode doesn't seem to dull the cooling effect AC on mine, but it does dull the heating in Winter.
There's also little difference in the lightness of the steering in ECO on mine.
I get the same mpkWh in both, obviously the GOM shows different predicted range on the screen.

 

[Striker]

It doesn't limit max pedal response, that's the same in any mode it's the pedal map that's altered.
Similar to this:
View attachment 10430

That's great thanks Kithmo, I'd guessed it used some kind of exponential curves for the different modes, but I'd also assumed that it also gave some kind of max limit too
I'm sure in addition to this the responsiveness changes too, yesterday I had to pull out on a fast road, I floored it in ECO and it was still sluggish, today I only had to touch the pedal in Sport and the car was moving quicker

 

[Kithmo]

That's great thanks Kithmo, I'd guessed it used some kind of exponential curves for the different modes, but I'd also assumed that it also gave some kind of max limit too
I'm sure in addition to this the responsiveness changes too, yesterday I had to pull out on a fast road, I floored it in ECO and it was still sluggish, today I only had to touch the pedal in Sport and the car was moving quicker

That's probably the traction control limiting power, mine does that in Normal mode sometimes.

 

[TheArcher]

What's a lovely EV for if not to be driven? Sometimes I relax, but mostly I drive with 'purpose' and enjoy it. (And that does NOT mean speeding!)

 

[RamseyLewis]

For me eco mode is almost dangerous because it increase the lag between the moment when you press the pedal and when the car start moving. I only use eco to park

 

[Maciej]

For me eco mode is almost dangerous because it increase the lag between the moment when you press the pedal and when the car start moving. I only use eco to park

I agree in eco car feels very unresponsive to me. And difference in range is like 10 miles on full charge just isn't worth it for anything. I didn't pay nearly £30 000 for a car to then remove most of it's features over gaining 10 to 20 miles of range. I will never understand the people who paid so much for a car to then drive it with no heating in winter, eco mode and at 50 miles and hour on A-road just to move from 3.8 mil/kW to 4.6mil/kW just isn't worth I would rather do one quick 10 min stop at services for extra wee than go through all this hassle and make my drive miserable for next 3 hours.

 

[Kithmo]

For me eco mode is almost dangerous because it increase the lag between the moment when you press the pedal and when the car start moving. I only use eco to park

Are you using Auto hold, that causes a slight lag ?

 

[RamseyLewis]

I agree in eco car feels very unresponsive to me. And difference in range is like 10 miles on full charge just isn't worth it for anything. I didn't pay nearly £30 000 for a car to then remove most of it's features over gaining 10 to 20 miles of range. I will never understand the people who paid so much for a car to then drive it with no heating in winter, eco mode and at 50 miles and hour on A-road just to move from 3.8 mil/kW to 4.6mil/kW just isn't worth I would rather do one quick 10 min stop at services for extra wee than go through all this hassle and make my drive miserable for next 3 hours.

I totally agree. I tried a full month with eco and the gain doesn't worth the hassle like you said.

 

[Headgas1]

I find eco mode so sluggish it’s not a very pleasant experience really I agree with @Maciej whats the point of spending a few extra quid and then not enjoying all the benefits but each to there own I guess.
I do like the auto hold feature when I stop anywhere but my mrs doesn’t which shows we all have different ways of driving.

 

[Robf]

Waiting for my MG but with the Leaf I find that max regen is good for town driving, normal is better for the country roads as it controls the slow down for bends, corners etc at a better rate. Also use normal for motorways.
I find that using max regen on country roads can lead to over decelaration (its a judgement thing) and therefore having to accelerate a bit more than necessary which does use more electricity.
Would be good to get the thoughts of those that have been driving on various types of roads in their ZS EV's?.
I understand that the MG4 free button on the steering wheel can be used to control the regen level, can you do similar in the ZS?

 

[Archev]

Waiting for my MG but with the Leaf I find that max regen is good for town driving, normal is better for the country roads as it controls the slow down for bends, corners etc at a better rate. Also use normal for motorways.
I find that using max regen on country roads can lead to over decelaration (its a judgement thing) and therefore having to accelerate a bit more than necessary which does use more electricity.
Would be good to get the thoughts of those that have been driving on various types of roads in their ZS EV's?.
I understand that the MG4 free button on the steering wheel can be used to control the regen level, can you do similar in the ZS?

Almost two years with the original ZS and for the last year with the long range 5, I’ve only really ever used the eco setting alongside the regen at 3. This gives retardation akin to, but even better than from a decent diesel engine as I became used to over many years.
I also relished the torque of a diesel following that “braking” effect - but, of course the EV torque characteristics totally rewrite that entire chapter