[nzzzzz0832]

First of all, interested to know hows your brake doing given the your mileage. Currently, my 21 45e has almost 50k KM and both front brakes are about 12 mm and 9mm on the rear.

Lots of discussion of fuel economy here in the forum in terms of hybrid vs eco pro. Which makes me wonder, sure, eco pro lets freewheeling more which is supposed to be more efficient on eMPG. However, then it means you would press the brake pedal harder to a full stop. With this process repeats million times, would you be better off if you were just to keep it under hybrid and use less brake?

Share your thoughts

[nZtiZia]

MY21 45e with 27k miles. i don't know what my pads' thicknesses are currently, though

if your vehicle senses another vehicle in front, Hybrid Eco Pro won't freewheel; it applies the brakes regeneratively just like standard Hybrid. the only time Eco Pro lets you freewheel is if it doesn't sense a vehicle in front of you.

that said, i don't think brake wear would be significantly faster in Eco Pro unless you're constantly braking from freewheeling at a decent speed to a full stop which means no vehicle in front of you most of the time.

[sigmabody]

Don't know my current brake wear; not enough miles to be material yet (I don't put too many miles on my X5).

It shouldn't matter between modes, though: you get regen braking in either case, until you exceed the regen ability. As long as you're not braking "hard", and not under 10mph, you're doing regen braking in either case (and not using physical brakes). I hardly ever use physical breaks in normal driving over 10mph, for example.

Brakes on hybrids generally last "a good while", unless you drive the vehicle hard.

[RickObe]

I have trouble understanding why freewheeling would be more economical than standard regen braking. Can someone explain that?

[nZtiZia]

Originally Posted by RickObe

I have trouble understanding why freewheeling would be more economical than standard regen braking. Can someone explain that?

let’s say you have two vehicles side by side and the goal is to get from a starting point to 400 feet (arbitrary distance for illustration purposes). one is freewheeling and one is regen braking as they both release the accelerator pedal at the same time at the starting point. the one regen braking slows down earlier to the point the owner has to press the accelerator to reach 400 feet whereas the one freewheeling makes it all the way to 400 feet without pressing on the accelerator.

less gas = more fuel efficient

I tested this extensively on my road trips getting 26-28mpg in Hybrid/Adaptive and 31-33mpg on Hybrid Eco Pro

on the flip side, standard Hybrid allows more regenerated electric power to be used throughout. on a 200-mile trip I frequently take, I regenerated 30 electric miles in Hybrid/Adaptive drive modes versus 7 electric miles in Hybrid Eco Pro. despite the lower number of electric miles total, the vehicle freewheeled enough to offset fuel use, thus contributing to higher fuel efficiency

[volodp]

For me Eco Pro has consistently shown a better fuel economy on the long trips without visible caveats. I’m used to the “lazy driving” when I travel 8 hours in one direction anyway. Always wanted to see the difference in how headlights work in these two modes but never spotted any.

[sigmabody]

I suspect (but do not know) that any difference probably lies in two areas:
- The extent to which Eco Pro mode reduces other energy consumption (eg: aircon, lights, etc.)
- How "smoothly" the driver articulates the accelerator pedal while driving

To wit, it's common for me (in Hybrid) to be periodically driving with a light press on the pedal, and the display showing net zero energy transfer (essentially free wheeling), in which case it should be the same. I find that I rarely am in regeneration while cruising, unless I'm intentionally slowing (eg: for traffic), which should also be identical (absent other factors). The difference might come if I was less smooth with articulating the throttle, and had some energy losses with regen and the accelerating again (because energy capture isn't 100%), vs coasting.

I would imagine the difference to be minimal, with normal driving, but I have not measured. I'd say whatever makes you feel better, go for it: the fuel usage delta is probably not going to be significant in any case.

[RichardE]

A question, on the Power/Charge meter on the 45e, the charge section shows the amount of regen taking place, does this mean that when I apply the brakes the physical brake pads do not engage the rotors, unless the needle goes below the bottom charge mark (red circle on image below)?

[sigmabody]

Originally Posted by RichardE

A question, on the Power/Charge meter on the 45e, the charge section shows the amount of regen taking place, does this mean that when I apply the brakes the physical brake pads do not engage the rotors, unless the needle goes below the bottom charge mark (red circle on image below)?

I believe that is accurate, or at least that would be my expectation, based on how regenerative braking works in general.