Its about 50% efficient, you get back half of what it took to get to that speed. You decide if that equals a lot or some. Its always good, and always saves brake pads and rotors too.

 

Keep in mind, the ID.4 has strong regenerative braking, as it has a blended braking system. To use it, you press the brake pedal and all but the strongest braking is purely regen braking. If more braking force is requested via the brake pedal, the car automatically blends in the friction brakes. I honestly believe VW did this because it’s intuitive for people coming from ICE vehicles. One pedal driving is not intuitive for new EV folks and requires you to always be modulating your foot on the accelerator pedal, even when slowing down. I do wish VW offered an option to turn one pedal driving on or off, though.

 

I am not sure if it is that non intuitive. I test drove a tesla yesterday for the first time and this is the first time I am driving a car with one pedal driving and I could ease into it 5 mins. Given the flexibility of the ev platforms, VW should have kept one pedal driving a choice

 

Isn't the "B" mode for one pedal driving?

 

No, it gives much more regenerative braking. There is still creep after stopping, which is needed turned off for one pedal, as many threads here complain about.

 

OK, got it. So "B" is mostly one pedal driving, only requiring the brake to hold the car at a standstill.

 

I thought if you turned on ACC, that the car would come to a complete stop behind a car stopped at a traffic light. I used to use it a lot on the Kona, but my wife hated it.

 

I just got back from test driving the ID.4. This was my first-ever experience with an EV. I’m not sure if I was in Sport mode or not, but I was not a fan of B mode. it felt like I was constantly battling the brake, like I had left on my parking brake. Maybe it’s something you get used to over time but it just fel unnatural to me. I was glad to have a more normal alternat I could switch to with D mode.

 

If you have only driven automatics in your life, it will take a few days to get used to it. If you have driven manuals or owned a motorcycle, it will take less than an hour.

 

My wife has owned manuals her whole life until her last car. She hates driving my i3, which has a fair amount of regen (not completely 1-pedal, but close), but it's also a bouncy little s4it that handles like a go-cart. Anyway, she's no fan. So she's been driving her ID.4 for a month and I ask her to use my drained-down i3 so I can have the ID for a long-distance donut run. "Ugh," she says, "OK." She gets home in the i3, I ask how it was, and she says "NOW I understand the one-pedal driving. Not too bad!" So I hate to say it, but maybe VWs dumbed-down and selectable B mode is a good thing as a training aid?

 

I’ve driven manuals all my life. Got one in my garage. Also have a Chevy Bolt. I always drive my ID4 in B mode. It’ll take some time for some. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll like it. Wish VW would add one pedal driving.

 

I'll jump in with another boost for B-mode, particularly around town. I initially thought I'd love it, then I bought the car and didn't love it. Now after several hundred miles, I really like B-mode around town. It takes a delicate touch on the accelerator pedal to not get head-bobs from the passenger seat - and that's your clue that you're doing it wrong. With some practice, I am getting similar mi/kWh numbers as D-mode, this requires feathering the accelerator and sort of simulating D-mode a bit.

I like that I know I'm not using the friction brakes much, except for that pesky last 3 MPH. Ahem. Cough, cough. Single-pedal driving and all that.

I'd love to have three or four B-mode settings, with various levels of regen, buried in a menu. This would just be the same "Eco, Comfort, Sport" settings, but with, you know, settings. Even better, I'd like the ability to adjust the curve that it uses to implement the regen but that's way too nerdy for a production car. I'd really just prefer a slightly gentler beginning when I release the accelerator.

 

Having the regen is one reason I purchased an ID4. I drive it all the time in regen. I have no issues with it. There are some times when I drive several miles without any miles lost on the readout!

 

I don't think there's an EV or hybrid currently for sale that doesn't utilize regenerstive braking.

I recall one owner on the i3 Facebook group who said he'd made a practice of repeatedly overspeeding then regenning during his commute to "gain miles." I hope he was joking. There's no free lunch. Regen is great when you need to slow down, but it's always more efficient not to get to get to an unnecessarily high speed in the first place.

 

I don't think there's an EV or hybrid currently for sale that doesn't utilize regenerstive braking.

I recall one owner on the i3 Facebook group who said he'd made a practice of repeatedly overspeeding then regenning during his commute to "gain miles." I hope he was joking. There's no free lunch. Regen is great when you need to slow down, but it's always more efficient not to get to get to an unnecessarily high speed in the first place.

Don't forget, the thinking process of many folks is not always mart! 😉