[Fredzedex]

Can somebody in the know explain this concept to me in layman’s terms,specifically with the mx30?
I kind of get it but unsure how the paddles on the steering wheel affect/ change it?
surely with a car of this range you’d just have it on max all the time?

thanks in advance

fred

 

[Mazda Groupie]

In the middle dial (speed) you will see the position of your gear lever P,R,N,D when you pull the left paddle you will see a litlle DOWN arow appears pull left again second arrow apears
If you now pull right paddle one down arrow dissapears pull right again second down arrow dissapears you will only see D no arrows
Pull right paddle one arrow again right paddle 2 appears pulll left to lett thgem dissapear
Left paddle to increasse reagen car will slow hard if you lift your foot from the pedal
Right paddle your car will freewheel a long time (hardly any deceleration) need to break to slow down and no reagen
If you have set arrows up or down they will dissaper automaticcly if you use cruise control and will go to default settting of no arrows and you need to set them again after using cruise control
Your car will always start in default (no arrows) when starting the car even when you shut it down when you have engaged arrows
Fun fact your car will pull up faster in full right paddle then in full left peddle
Uphill right peddle downhill left peddle level roads no arrows
You don't need to use them if you don't want to but when used to it its like braking without braking and you gain range but if its a long downhill you can opt for no reagen and just roll
Hope this helps

 

[Milkfloat]

Sometimes I quite like to drive in full retardation mode which, with a little care, gets very close to one pedal driving; the brake pedal only being used to kill the last few mph. However, thermodynamic inefficiency is always with you so every use of the accelerator and all retardation has a certain inefficiency. For maximum range, you should drive with minimum retardation and maximum anticipation; that is lifting off the accelerator and coasting frequently. If you have to use the brake then, initially, it uses recuperation energy rather than the mechanical brake. Not as inefficient as mechanical brake of course but still wasting energy in inefficiency. Ultimately, you drive as you wish but try driving on minimum regeneration for a full journey and regard every touch of the brake pedal as failure. On another trip, try maximum regeneration and drive just with the accelerator but again regarding use of brake pedal, except for coming to a standstill, as failure. All part of the MX-30 fun.

 

[VivaMazda]

Can somebody in the know explain this concept to me in layman’s terms,specifically with the mx30?
I kind of get it but unsure how the paddles on the steering wheel affect/ change it?
surely with a car of this range you’d just have it on max all the time?

thanks in advance

fred

Great question and many different opinions.
When using regen the motor will "brake" and charge the battery. Instead of using power from the battery it puts new charge into the battery. How cool is that!?
But there are some losses of energy in the process. Great for city driving and arguably better for safety.

Coasting, free wheeling or minimal regen is good on the highway according to some, like myself, where you try to roll as much as possible and thus waste as little charge as possible.

The real magic of regen is when you drive up and down hills. You use minimal regen uphill and chose the right amount of regen going downhill. It works astonishingly well.

Some models from e g Audi VW have adaptive regen that does the work for you. With the MX 30 you adapt the regen by using the paddles. If you want to. The name of the game is anticipation and not to waste energy by friction braking, normal braking, that means energy turned inte heat not forward motion.

Using the brake pedal first it regens and gradually the harder you brake the more fiction braking is applied.

Good luck. Please dont forget that safety is paramount and playing with the paddles should never be at the expense of safety. Makes sense?

 

[Fredzedex]

Thanks everyone for these excellent answers, looks like I’ve got a bit of learning to do!

Thanks again

fred

 

[Stephen68]

Thanks everyone for these excellent answers, looks like I’ve got a bit of learning to do!

Thanks again

fred

All great answers, for me the main learning point was overturning all I knew from over 30 years of driving. EV's are counter-intuitive, they like small roads with bends, roundabouts, junctions, lights etc etc. I have found I am choosing local roads over expressways to both enjoy the drive more and maintain higher levels of charge.
Those paddles are excellent, does anyone know whether the brake lights are activated on hard deceleration using the paddle only?

 

[Baz1964]

All great answers, for me the main learning point was overturning all I knew from over 30 years of driving. EV's are counter-intuitive, they like small roads with bends, roundabouts, junctions, lights etc etc. I have found I am choosing local roads over expressways to both enjoy the drive more and maintain higher levels of charge.
Those paddles are excellent, does anyone know whether the brake lights are activated on hard deceleration using the paddle only?

Brake lights are activated with full regen only (both down arrows, not just one) when you lift off the accelerator completely

 

[Baz1964]

Great question and many different opinions.
When using regen the motor will "brake" and charge the battery. Instead of using power from the battery it puts new charge into the battery. How cool is that!?
But there are some losses of energy in the process. Great for city driving and arguably better for safety.

Coasting, free wheeling or minimal regen is good on the highway according to some, like myself, where you try to roll as much as possible and thus waste as little charge as possible.

The real magic of regen is when you drive up and down hills. You use minimal regen uphill and chose the right amount of regen going downhill. It works astonishingly well.

Some models from e g Audi VW have adaptive regen that does the work for you. With the MX 30 you adapt the regen by using the paddles. If you want to. The name of the game is anticipation and not to waste energy by friction braking, normal braking, that means energy turned inte heat not forward motion.

Using the brake pedal first it regens and gradually the harder you brake the more fiction braking is applied.

Good luck. Please dont forget that safety is paramount and playing with the paddles should never be at the expense of safety. Makes sense?

This is a good example of the magic of regen

 

[Mazda Groupie]

Thanks everyone for these excellent answers, looks like I’ve got a bit of learning to do!

Thanks again

fred

Your welcome

All great answers, for me the main learning point was overturning all I knew from over 30 years of driving. EV's are counter-intuitive, they like small roads with bends, roundabouts, junctions, lights etc etc. I have found I am choosing local roads over expressways to both enjoy the drive more and maintain higher levels of charge.
Those paddles are excellent, does anyone know whether the brake lights are activated on hard deceleration using the paddle only?

Acording to the handbook they are activated when using max regen

 

[ElectricMonkey]

I always say that I learned to drive with hands rather than feet.
I barely brake anymore and I mainly use the paddles changing dynamically according to where I am driving and what I am about to do on the road.

It is important to understand, however, that max regen recharges your battery when slowing down, but as a consequence, is the lesser efficient drive style, because it requires also more accelerations to keep going.
On other hand, free rolling allows to use minimal energy once on speed, but it doesn't not regen when slowing down.

That's why I "drive with hands", increasing the regen when I approach a car in front of me or a traffic light and I decrease the regen when the car is free to go.

Another interesting aspect is the regen combined with the limited speed setting. If you are driving on a road where the speed limit is for example 90km/h and you set the limit for that speed, when you are on a descend segment, the car will automatically use the regen to keep you at the limit recharging constantly the battery in the process. This is the situation where you can magically see the battery go up instead of down.

 

[Marcel21674]

The downside of using regeneration as much as possible is your hardly using your rear brakes and that might cause problems with rust.
I had to sand down the rear disks with just 11000km's, because the pads could not get them clean anymore.

 

[MAshmore]

Should be picking up my MX-30 this week... Surely when you set regen braking to min it still uses regen as you apply the brakes and only uses the physical brakes once you exceed the electronic braking capacity. This is how it has worked on all the hybrids I've had over the last dacade. It enables the smoothest driving style while still allowing maximum regenerative braking!

 

[Milkfloat]

Yes MAshmore you are correct and it is a very well set up system in the Mazda too. However, my brake discs say that there is also a little friction braking with the regeneration. Logically, it is easier to set up a seamless transition system that way.

 

[Paul]

So interested to read all of these replies. After reading the replies it seems to me that I will have some more learning to do. At 72 I always think your never too old to learn. It also keeps that ole grey matter turning over. Had the 30 for a week now & it’s given me a lot of driving pleasure. Great car if bought with the range being in mind, only do about 2 to 3 k a year so I reckon it’ll be good if not perfect for me.

 

[Mazda Groupie]

So interested to read all of these replies. After reading the replies it seems to me that I will have some more learning to do. At 72 I always think your never too old to learn. It also keeps that ole grey matter turning over. Had the 30 for a week now & it’s given me a lot of driving pleasure. Great car if bought with the range being in mind, only do about 2 to 3 k a year so I reckon it’ll be good if not perfect for me.

If you can't figure something out the car even has a manual in it so you can do a search there but remember if you are thinkering with it make sure you start your engine because that litlle battery in the front wont last long
With your driving habit you will not need to upload your car to much but its best to load it at least once every two weeks (big battery) the litlle battery will not charge when pluged in it only charges when the engine is on so after the you pull the loading plug start your engine and lett it stand for two minutes (or while charging) so you will never get stranded with a dead battery
Enjoy your car