Regenerative Braking - Using Standard Brakes?

[SharkNX]

Hi fellow Lexus owners,

I'm pretty fresh owner of my first Hybrid and first Lexus CT200h.

One thing that keeps my mind busy is regen braking.

If I'm pushing brake pedal and keeping ECO gauge right at the edge of Charge part am I using normal friction brakes or only MG2 and MG1 generator as a braking force?

Is it safer to use only "B" mode for faster slowdown, or may I use brakes till the end of Charge zone?

Thanks for the answers and I'm sorry for my English.

[PaulWhitt20]

If you need to stop use the brake pedal in the normal way. I am not sure if the brake lights show if you use B or regen braking. If you are slowing down best to let drivers behind know what you are doing.

[SharkNX]

Brake lights does not lights up when you're in "B" mode. But strange thing is that when I'm using radar cruise control and car starts to brake due to vehicle in front of me, the brake lights come on almost at the end of the Charge zone of "ECO gauge"... But when I touch the brake pedal brake lights come on immediately.

I'm fine about letting know other drivers that I'm braking. I'm only concerned about using friction brakes, and by that using braking pads and disks, when I just want to charge the traction Battery.

In everyday commute to work, especially in traffic jams I can feel when regen is braking and at approximately at 5km/h you can feel how car cannot break by generator and switches to friction brakes.

[Goggy]

I've not used 'B' mode much, other than on a steep hill where I don't need to accelerate. I find it slows you down too much and drivers behind may wonder why I am going so slow. I think the car does enough regenerative braking on it's own without any help from me. I may be wrong of course but it does seem to cope quite well without my input. :)

[PaulWhitt20]

B mode is for going down steep hills where you would engage low gear if in a manual car. It's not meant for normal use.

I think it's best to let the car decide when to recharge its batteries. You can help by being observant and ease off for example when approaching red traffic lights.

[Nibor]

Just a thought on regen braking - what happens to the excess electricity generated after the Battery is showing "full" and you are still descending a steep hill??

Many thanks

Robin

[PaulWhitt20]

Just a thought on regen braking - what happens to the excess electricity generated after the battery is showing "full" and you are still descending a steep hill??

Many thanks

Robin

I imagine it is dissipated in heat. Thus contributing to global warming!

[adnewton]

Regen braking is not actually via braking. The system regenerates via motor/generator when power is not in demand.

Braking is the best form of stopping, however, the B mode is just like shifting from 4th to 2nd in a manual car, plus this mode does charge Battery by reversing direction of motor to charge Battery.

When Battery is fully charged, the system knows this and does not apply regen. If Battery was overcharged it would possibly explode.

It is cheaper to replace brake pads opposed to transmission. Normal brake pads are also standard fit.

[Nibor]

Adam,

Many thanks for the info regarding fully charged Battery and regeneration!!

Robin

[chris_fletcher]

Sorry adnewton this statement is not entirely accurate "Regen braking is not actually via braking. The system regenerates via motor/generator when power is not in demand".

Regen braking is exactly as it sounds, power is recovered via the genrator back to the drive Battery when braking resulting in less wear on the pad friction material and longer pad life. 100,000miles has been suggested elswhere and on my 4 year old CT200 I had ~60% pad left at 44,000 miles

If you watch out for it you can feel the transition from regen to actual brakes when slowing esp if you need to stop more quickly

[adnewton]

Sorry adnewton this statement is not entirely accurate "Regen braking is not actually via braking. The system regenerates via motor/generator when power is not in demand".

Regen braking is exactly as it sounds, power is recovered via the genrator back to the drive battery when braking resulting in less wear on the pad friction material and longer pad life. 100,000miles has been suggested elswhere and on my 4 year old CT200 I had ~60% pad left at 44,000 miles

If you watch out for it you can feel the transition from regen to actual brakes when slowing esp if you need to stop more quickly

OK. What I meant and the way I thought it read was " brake pads & brake system do not produce charge directly through braking system". Therefore, brake pads are standard - hope it clears up my "Error".

[DanD]

brake pads and disks should last much longer than in a conventional car.

This is because pads and disks are used below 15mph only. Above that speed, the car uses the electric motors to brake.

[Mikeyb999]

Brake pads and disks should last much longer than in a conventional car.

This is because pads and disks are used below 15mph only. Above that speed, the car uses the electric motors to brake.

Not quite. I wouldn't like to do an emergency stop on the generator alone.

[Silversalmon]

Well, on a nice positive note my nice shiny alloy wheels stay nice and shiny for ages, my other car's go black just looking at them....Being a bit OCD about looking after it this is a huge plus, as well as not chewing through brakes and tyres at the same rate I presume.

[Seamaster]

Yep. My company Prius just went back at 4 years, 50K miles, and the original brakes and tyres still on it.