[rschmitz]

Is anyone running their tires slightly over pressure to get more miles out of a charge or doing any other Hyper-mile tricks to squeeze the most out the electron? Also, are you all noticing significant difference in driving in B mode? I personally love and got really used to B driving in my i3...what do you all think?

 

[Evillen]

Is anyone running their tires slightly over pressure to get more miles out of a charge or doing any other Hyper-mile tricks to squeeze the most out the electron? Also, are you all noticing significant difference in driving in B mode? I personally love and got really used to B driving in my i3...what do you all think?

In B mode IMO there is definitely a noticeable difference especially when city driving as opposed to highway (unless it's stop and go). Let's say I'm going to a store that is 20 miles away and has little highway driving, my range usually will only drop about half of the total distance, i.e., if it's 20 miles, my range will only go down by 10 miles. I haven't compared it as much to just standard D, but I just really like the regenerative breaking function.

I can't speak as much to the tricks to squeeze as much range out as possible but am definitely interested in hearing what others do.

 

[Don]

I run my tires at 45 psi. As to hypermiling, I've found the best results are to be had by keeping the speed down as much as is practical and to be really, really smooooth in everything you do - Don't accelerate briskly, watch for upcoming necessary speed changes and make them gradual and release the throttle and let B mode slow you whenever practical - We always drive in B mode and we learned the smooth part driving Mitsu iMiEV's for the past 10 years. When you've only got 65 to 75 miles of range and you live in a place that's never herd of a public EV charging station anywhere except for the last couple years, you get really good at making every one of those 65 miles count!

Don

 

[phands]

I use B mode almost all the time...it's superb! I don't put any stock in the Guess-O-Meter range figures, but State Of Charge doesn't drop as much/fast in B as it does in D....somewhat unsurprisingly! I do 90% of my driving in and around New York City, so the almost one-pedal driving is really a big advantage. Another advantage to B mode is that the car starts braking the instant you lift your foot upward on the Go pedal, which gives you a safety edge compared with the time taken in moving your foot from one pedal to the other - begin braking at least a half second earlier, and you might not be at the scene of the accident!

As to playing with tire pressures....I wouldn't take that too far - it might lower your rolling resistance, but it might also reduce the ability to stick to the road under side loads like cornering, and may increase stopping distances and tire wear - smaller contact patch. I used to play with that with my motor cycle tires - high performance bikes like Honda FireBlades and Aprilia V Twins, and usually the manufacturers settings were the best all round compromise.

 

[mkunz]

If hyper-miling is the top priority then I believe laws of physics favor the ID4 D mode. Regenerative breaking can never be 100% efficient so conversion of speed to battery charge and then back to speed will be less efficient than coasting and losing less speed. It has been shared in some of these forum topics somewhere in the past that this was part of the rationale in setting the D mode default to coast rather than to automatically slow with regeneration.

 

[Fahrer]

If hyper-miling is the top priority then I believe laws of physics favor the ID4 D mode. Regenerative breaking can never be 100% efficient so conversion of speed to battery charge and then back to speed will be less efficient than coasting and losing less speed. It has been shared in some of these forum topics somewhere in the past that this was part of the rationale in setting the D mode default to coast rather than to automatically slow with regeneration.

This is correct. When spending energy ( gas or electric) to invest in increased kinetic energy ( speed), there are efficiency losses. When braking ( gas or electric) there is a loss of kinetic energy through friction. Friction brakes are used in ICE cars to convert kinetic energy to heat through friction. EVs can regain some of the the kinetic energy to add energy to the battery but there are losses through the transmission, the motor/generator ( heat and friction) and in conversion of electrical power to chemical storage in the battery.

Every time there is a conversion of energy, there is a loss ( chemical to electrical, electrical to mechanical, mechanical to electrical and electrical to chemical. There are losses when charging your EV car ( this does not apply to ICE cars).

The most efficient way to drive ( ICE or EV) is to minimize your investment in speed. Use as little as possible to gain or maintain speed in the first place. Then, coast as much as possible.

Drive like you have no brakes and you will experience the most efficient use of on-board energy ( gasoline or battery charge).

Having said all of this, yes in the city, when it is not possible to be maximizing coasting, regen can be helpful as one is forced to be hitting the brakes often. But even then, the payback is limited.

EDIT: After all, we are talking about hyper-miling here.

 

[AWD Or Nothing]

It has been shared in some of these forum topics somewhere in the past that this was part of the rationale in setting the D mode default to coast rather than to automatically slow with regeneration.

Not only this, but in 'D' mode you still get the benefits of regen when you use the brake pedal., so it really seems like it offers the most control over energy conservation as long as you don't brake hard and engage the friction brake. 'B' mode, as far as energy conservation, fundamentally doesn't make as much sense . As far as one pedal driving, 'B' mode is more of a driver-fatigue benefit of not having to lift the foot to the adjacent pedal. What it might (maybe) also do is provide a very predicable and linear breaking force at a likely optimized recuperation rate, and so perhaps the driver can become trained to predict the according stopping distances, versus modulating the brake pedal in which case it could enter sub-optimum recuperation zones.

 

[jgoodnough]

I used to drive in B mode but have made the switch to D. One of the main factors for me was feedback from passengers and family members that they were getting carsick from all the back and forth accel/decel motion. I hadn't noticed it all that much but then had someone else drive the car with me as passenger. It certainly can be nauseating! D-mode smooths everything out and the ride becomes luxury-like for passengers. I still switch into B when I'm coming down hills and in stop and go traffic. My range tests have confirmed that for most of the driving I do I get better range in D.

 

[JPWhite]

I used to drive in B mode but have made the switch to D. One of the main factors for me was feedback from passengers and family members that they were getting carsick from all the back and forth accel/decel motion. I hadn't noticed it all that much but then had someone else drive the car with me as passenger. It certainly can be nauseating! D-mode smooths everything out and the ride becomes luxury-like for passengers. I still switch into B when I'm coming down hills and in stop and go traffic. My range tests have confirmed that for most of the driving I do I get better range in D.

Using the accelerator for braking takes some practice. The ID.4 has weak regeneration even in B mode when compared to Tesla vehicles. Once you realize your accelerator is also your brake you learn to feather it more subtly. Using the accelerator as an on/off switch will cause car sickness, with a gas car removing your foot from the accelerator doesn't result in braking so you have to break the gas pedal habit to take advantage of regenerative braking.

 

[jgoodnough]

Using the accelerator as an on/off switch will cause car sickness, with a gas car removing your foot from the accelerator doesn't result in braking so you have to break the gas pedal habit to take advantage of regenerative braking.

Good point, but why would I want to when I consistently get better range using D? I was getting 3.4 m/kwh driving in B. Now I'm getting up to 3.7 in D. I've never gotten that high in B. I'm sure everyone has a preference one way or the other. I like D!

 

[SunWizard]

you have to break the gas pedal habit to take advantage of regenerative braking.

Not correct, you get 2x the amount of regen braking (.25g) in D with the brake pedal halfway than you get in B mode (.13g). Teslas are always .19g unless you pay $5500 extra for the track package which gives you adjustment slider to go a little higher.

 

[Fahrer]

I used to drive in B mode but have made the switch to D. One of the main factors for me was feedback from passengers and family members that they were getting carsick from all the back and forth accel/decel motion. I hadn't noticed it all that much but then had someone else drive the car with me as passenger. It certainly can be nauseating! D-mode smooths everything out and the ride becomes luxury-like for passengers. I still switch into B when I'm coming down hills and in stop and go traffic. My range tests have confirmed that for most of the driving I do I get better range in D.

I think a lot of folks forget that VW designed the ID.4 to be a family car, not an electric go-kart. One pedal driving is OK if you are driving by yourself. With others in the car? Pass out the barf bags!