Is there really no adaptive regenerative braking?

[dimaa_6abc]

Hello, I'm almost sure I'm right, but want to double check. Does Macan EV have an adaptive regenerative braking, meaning when you coast (release gas pedal and don't touch brakes), it goes using inertia until it sees the car in front and distance is decreasing, then it starts using regenerative braking to keep that distance in safe range. I don't have Taycan, but its owners say that there is regenerative braking control button on the steering wheel, and when you hold it for few seconds, adaptive mode turns on, doing what I said above. No way to have this in Macan, either quite weak regenerative braking when it is on, or not at all when it is off?

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[anders1]

Hi, there is regenerative braking. No button however but you can enable it in the center screen in the right hand corner In the car menu for driving. The regen braking is rather weak so I mostly leave it turned off. As all other electric cars there is regen applied when you hit the brakes or when the adaptive cruise control is active. I can never tell when the car switches from regeneration to traditional brakes. Works flawlessly. People who want one pedal driving will be dissapointed.

 

[dimaa_6abc]

Hi, there is regenerative braking. No button however but you can enable it in the center screen in the right hand corner In the car menu for driving. The regen braking is rather weak so I mostly leave it turned off. As all other electric cars there is regen applied when you hit the brakes or when the adaptive cruise control is active. I can never tell when the car switches from regeneration to traditional brakes. Works flawlessly. People who want one pedal driving will be dissapointed.

Thank you! Other cars (BMW, Mercedes) can apply regen brakes depnding on the traffic ahead of you. If you are approaching the car in front of you and distance is decreasing rapidly, it will brake for you. Nothing like this on Macan EV? I know it will brake when using cruise control, but BMW can do it even without cruise control, just in city traffic.

 

[W1NGE]

Thank you! Other cars (BWM, Mercedes) can apply regen brakes depnding on the traffic ahead of you. If you are approaching the car in front of you and distance is decreasing rapidly, it will brake for you. Nothing like this on Macan EV? I know it will brake when using cruise control, but BMW can do it even without cruise control, just in city traffic.

I had it on my Taycans and did not trust or like it nor will it bring you to a standstill. Also prone to not always detecting the vehicle in front.

Brake recuperation is much better at adding a little energy than that of overrun (throttle lift off and motor braking when recuperation is active)

 

[krissrock]

yeah, you're talkin about what the Taycan has...and I did not like that. It's like having adaptive cruise control on all the time! I had a Taycan loaner once, and after a day, i had to turn that mess off.
I just keep regen off as it definitely more efficient
I've tried it yet in traffic, but if you have innodrive you can probably use that in traffic as it will just keep with the car in front of it

 

[ColdCase]

Well that is adaptive cruise control with stop start. I think the base Macan has adaptive but not start/stop standard . You have to check off the Innodrive box. It was discussed here quite a bit last year.

The Macan, with innodrive, uses whatever regen, conventional braking, or throttle necessary to follow the car in front in traffic, including stopping and starting. I think there is a limit to stop time after which you need to apply throttle. I come to trust it but still keep an eye on it.

It is RADAR based and works far better than BMW's optical based system.

 

[dimaa_6abc]

yeah, you're talkin about what the Taycan has...and I did not like that. It's like having adaptive cruise control on all the time! I had a Taycan loaner once, and after a day, i had to turn that mess off.
I just keep regen off as it definitely more efficient

Yes, people in other groups say Taycan has it. I have it in BMW iX and find it great there, not sure about Taycan as I have never driven one, maybe it is tuned not as good as in BMW. I would like to have it in Macan, but alas...

 

[dbsb3233]

I just keep regen off as it definitely more efficient

I've heard a few people say this but I've tested it and can't notice any difference in efficiency. Nor does it make sense to me. Whether using the break pedal to slow down or slowing by lifting up on the accelerator pedal, it's still using regen. Should be the same.

Of course, I use CC on road trips, which is the same thing (slows with regen to keep the car at the same speed going downhill). If not using CC, perhaps you're just letting the car coast faster downhill? I guess maybe that could affect efficiency slightly.

Even at that though, it only affects downhill and stops. Stops you have to use regen braking regardless, and there's only so much downhill you can do on a long drive. Seems like it should be negligible on efficiency. I guess maybe the one exception to that would be constant rolling hills coming over crests (like 100's of the them). CC and regen can be a little annoying then by slowing you at every little up/down dip.

 

[dbsb3233]

Hi, there is regenerative braking. No button however but you can enable it in the center screen in the right hand corner In the car menu for driving.

You can program the joker button (diamond) to toggle Regen ON/OFF if desired.

I still like the regen in the Macan. It's not super-strong but it's not super-weak either. Wish it was a bit stronger but I was pleasantly surprised it was stronger than initial reports I was hearing.

 

[Orange]

I have adaptive cruise control, but no innodrive. It will keep distance (using regenerative braking where applicable) when using cruise control. It does not automatically brake or keep distance otherwise.

 

[W1NGE]

I've heard a few people say this but I've tested it and can't notice any difference in efficiency. Nor does it make sense to me. Whether using the break pedal to slow down or slowing by lifting up on the accelerator pedal, it's still using regen. Should be the same.

Of course, I use CC on road trips, which is the same thing (slows with regen to keep the car at the same speed going downhill). If not using CC, perhaps you're just letting the car coast faster downhill? I guess maybe that could affect efficiency slightly.

Using the brake pedal uses more force (braking recuperation) than lifting off the throttle (overrun recuperation) with recuperation active and so recuperation possibilities are much greater (no argument).

Coasting is king overall for enhancing range IMHO.

 

[dgkhn]

I think OP's question has been answered (no "adaptive" regenerative braking unless ACC is active). Personally, I would still like to have the option of one-pedal driving, but after a bit of experimenting, I keep my Macan in coast mode which I now prefer to the weak recuperation mode.

Never having experienced it, it seems to me that the adaptive braking version would be annoying, because the car is deciding at any moment how much regeneration to use when lifting off the pedal and that seems to me to be somewhere between annoying and potentially dangerous. I'm surprised that Porsche would implement that on the Taycan while also rejecting one-pedal driving.

Edit: separate issue, but some non-owners see confused about this: ACC (without Innodrive) works fine in traffic jams down to a full stop.

 

[krissrock]

CC and regen can be a little annoying then by slowing you at every little up/down dip.

This is why. regen slows you down too much. I don't know about your area, but i have a lot of rolling hills here. And slowing down while going down hill...is not efficient. I would literally have to get back on the "gas" to keep rolling. Being able to go far distances not using any power is just as efficient. It's not all about regaining it.
There's routes i take where i can coast for about 2 miles! If regen was on, i'd had to use energy to cover that distance cuz the regen would stop me.

 

[dbsb3233]

Using the brake pedal uses more force (braking recuperation) than lifting off the throttle (overrun recuperation) with recuperation active and so recuperation possibilities are much greater (no argument).

Coasting is king overall for enhancing range IMHO.

Yes, there's a limit to the amount of deceleration that the accelerator pedal lift will do with regen on. And of course the brake pedal has more available if you press down harder. (And then even more slowing if you press hard enough to max out regen and force the friction brakes to add on).

But light use of the brake pedal should be the same as light use of the accelerator pedal lift.

The only difference coast should make is in letting the car go faster downhill. I'm usually going just over the speed limit anyway so I usually don't want the car coasting up to 90 MPH downhill when the speed limit is 75.

 

[ColdCase]

I've heard a few people say this but I've tested it and can't notice any difference in efficiency.

A popular misconception, but take a broader view. When you include things like drivers habits, the studies show that regen actually hurts mpg or mpkW.

For one, with strong regen drivers have a tendency to stay on the throttle and begin braking later, perhaps because they falsely think they are saving energy (Tesla marketing). Regen is actually not that efficient in shoving energy back into the battery. There is some, but not as much as you think real world.

Without regen, drivers have a tendency to ease up on the throttle early and coast to a stop using the brakes much later, or driving smoother, which is more efficient. Coasting doesn't use as much battery or fuel as being on the throttle.

I find myself getting noticeable more mileage when driving any car like I don't have brakes. I get a couple more tenths per kW when I disable my Mini's regen and drive to stay off the conventional brakes. So adjust your driving style. But then the fun of timing regen such that you reach the stop sign at 0 mpg is fun that I miss. I will often enable strong regen in the city... for fun... boys and their toys.

Think about how the energy difference between coasting and using throttle. If you are driving like you stole it, there probably note much efficiency difference regardless.

Personally I find I need to pay much attention to drive a strong regen car smoothly, i.e. without your passenger's head flapping. I like the way Porche does it, although the transision when coming to a stop could be much improved.

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