Hi guys,

Iam wondering what is more efficient for energy recuperation when going down the hill in IS300h, is it better to simply brake or is it more efficient to manualy change the gear and to use engine for braking. Thank you for replies

Pav.

 

Regenerative braking will be more efficient as it re-uses that energy to recharge the battery. Engine braking will use energy from the battery, but since the brakes aren't applied, that energy is not re-used to charge the battery. Either way, the engine is used for braking, it's just a matter of if that energy is re-used or not.

 

If you simply brake, the system will use the regenerative braking until it reaches the maximuim (and possible) braking power. After that, it starts use the standard brakes on each wheel.
If you use the paddles to downshift, you'll use the thermal engine and the regenerative braking togheter to brake the car. You can simply verify it by looking to the the bar that is moving to the "charge" side, and you can hear the termal engine that increases its rpms

 

Thank you guys, I think both ways lead to energy recuperation, but I still guess what is more efficient. I will try both ways for a while and will refer back about energy consuption.

Pav.

 

The more efficient is to use only brakes and no downshift.
I tried it during last year with my IS300h