Regen effectiveness - downhill - conserve or all purpose?

[ksumnole]

Tri Max road tripper here. About to go down hill a couple of dozen miles. What’s more effective for regen: conserve with just the front motor engaged, or all-purpose with all 3 motors doing regen?
I guess I’m curious if just the front motor can harvest as much energy as all three. Thanks!

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[beeglowbot]

pretty sure only the front regen when on conserve. you can tell the regen braking is weaker when on conserve as well.

 

[FooF]

If it is really hilly avoid conserve. I also avoid if traffic is really heavy (lots of stop and go) or really curvy (lots of corner braking). More concerned with tire wear not the amount of regen.

 

[JacobAZ]

It shouldn't matter. There is only so much kinetic energy based upon the weight of the vehicle and the grade and length of downhill. As we go downhill, we feather the go peddle to maintain speed, so the amount of energy recaptured is pretty much constant regardless of regen setting. I live in the mountains where little is flat and downgrades can go for miles. The only exception would be if it was an unusually steep down grade where regen maxes out, which I have not yet experienced.

 

[ElGuano]

I've wondered the same thing.

I think in conserve, the rear will regen in those rare cases where you've just started from a stop and it hasn't yet transitioned to FWD-only, or if you've just jabbed the accelerator and requested enough power where the rear drive kicks in. In other cases, it'll just be the front motor for Regen.

I can kind of tell when it's front-only versus AWD regen, especially in "high regen" mode and I do wish it was more consistent, since it messes with my "smooth driving" and ability to anticipate when I'll come to a stop.

One thing I actually wish for with the Tri is an in-between mode between AP and Conserve - AWD in all normal driving, but FWD for freeway (e.g., when you hit 60mph for over 10 seconds). Part of the reason is for more consistent regen/deceleration behavior.

 

[ENVErider]

Tri Max road tripper here. About to go down hill a couple of dozen miles. What’s more effective for regen: conserve with just the front motor engaged, or all-purpose with all 3 motors doing regen?
I guess I’m curious if just the front motor can harvest as much energy as all three. Thanks!

IMO you should do long decent in all purpose; tire and motor wear is more even. Also, it seems easy to answer your question yourself on the ride down. If your max braking from regen (no pedal) is higher in all purpose mode then it's clearly giving you more potential regen. If you never brake more than the front motor output then it's a moot point.

 

[ksumnole]

That’s the logic I’ve been using. As the above comment mentioned, I wish there was an auto mode that switches to conserve only at highway speeds.

 

[socaladam]

According to the SC, anytime you’re on the highway/freeway with minimal amount of turning required you should be in conserve mode.

Using conserve during city driving will destroy your tires. City driving should be set to all purpose.

 

[ElGuano]

Using conserve during city driving will destroy your tires. City driving should be set to all purpose.

That's only for Gen1, right? Because I think on Gen2, "Conserve" on the Tri behaves the same as All-Purpose on various dual configurations.

 

[elatrickWheels]

After about a year in my R1S I stopped bothering to switch out of all purpose into conserve. Life is so much simpler with one thing less to worry about, and I haven’t looked back.

 

[ksumnole]

It seems some folks here are confusing Gen 1 dual motor with Gen 2 Tri Motor.

Tri Motor in Conserve mode actually runs all 3 motors up until you reach higher speeds of 30mph+, then is disabled the rear two motors. Using Conserve mode on flat long distance trips, at highway speeds, usually yields upwards of 20%+ increased efficiency.

The increased front tire wear is more related to using a low ride mode. Especially Gen 1.

 

[socaladam]

That's only for Gen1, right? Because I think on Gen2, "Conserve" on the Tri behaves the same as All-Purpose on various dual configurations.

Gen2

 

[RivAW]

Tri Max road tripper here. About to go down hill a couple of dozen miles. What’s more effective for regen: conserve with just the front motor engaged, or all-purpose with all 3 motors doing regen?
I guess I’m curious if just the front motor can harvest as much energy as all three. Thanks!

You should only be using conserve at constant highway speed.
It’s logical that more active motors will capture more regen energy, right? Your question doesn’t make sense ….

 

[ksumnole]

You should only be using conserve at constant highway speed.
It’s logical that more active motors will capture more regen energy, right? Your question doesn’t make sense ….

Perhaps I should clarify this question a bit. (hypothetically numbers)

Let’s assume the front motor can generate up to 20 kWh on its own. What grade and speed would you need to be traveling on to generate a maximum of 20 kWh? Now assume the rear motors can generate 10 kWh each. So front and rear together can generate a maximum of 30 kWh. If you are traveling at 60 mph on a 5% grade slope, and only generate 20 kWh, perhaps disabling the rear motors, and staying in Conserve mode makes most sense. From a perspective of putting wear on the motors and managing motor heat/cooling.

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