Regeneration levels... 3, or is it 4?

I've seen various claims on how many regeneration levels the E-Golf has. Some reviews (http://www.cnet.com/products/2015-volkswagen-e-golf, http://volkswagen-auto.net/golf/2015-volkswagen-egolf-features-and-specs-announced.html,) VW's own website (http://www.vw.com/models/e-golf/,) and at least one official VW description of the car, all say it has 3 regeneration levels, B being the same as the highest, #3.

The owner's manual, on the other hand, as well as other reviews, claim there are 4 levels of regen, B having the highest.

Today I finally remembered to check this out. Coasting down a hill in regen. mode 3, at about 30mph, I put it into B, and noticed no change in feel or indication on the power usage/regen meter. As I approached the bottom of the hill and the car slowed more, I kept cycling back and forth between B and 3. Finally, around 10mph or so, I noticed a bit more drag in B. Repeated tests seemed to reinforce that B was not noticeably higher in regen. at any point, and only seemed to e-brake a bit harder at slow speeds.

Has anyone else tested this?

I'd have to assume since there's 4 settings, VW would have built in some sort of differentiation. Even if it only kicks in at 10mph, it would still qualify as 4 levels. Maybe for pure stop and go city driving like nyc where you rarely would go over 25mph, the differentiation between 3 and B would be more obvious

Ron

cove3 said:

I'd have to assume since there's 4 settings, VW would have built in some sort of differentiation. Even if it only kicks in at 10mph, it would still qualify as 4 levels. Maybe for pure stop and go city driving like nyc where you rarely would go over 25mph, the differentiation between 3 and B would be more obvious

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I certainly agree with you that it makes little sense to have a level 3 and a B setting that are the same. Even if the 3rd level was the same as B and was only there to give you 2 ways to access it, in that case it should be indicated on the dash as B (or B3) in both cases.

The fact that I notice any difference at all, added to the above, makes me fairly certain that there are at least 4 e-brake levels -- perhaps B just activates the disc brakes a little at slow speeds, otherwise being the same as regen level 3. That would be intuitive, I guess. I would prefer a more significant overall difference, though.

B activates the brake lights when deceleration reaches a certain threshold. D3 doesn't activate the brake lights in my experience. This is important for avoiding getting hit from behind.

pad to metal does not happen in any of the 4 reg settings or when applying the brake except if the battery is full or there's emergency foot braking. I'm certain the D1-3+B are graduated in even increments, even if you think you can't feel the difference. I personally like the option, particularly for my wife who I think would prefer d1 or 2 over my preference for B

Much nicer design than BMW i3

Ron

cove3 said:

pad to metal does not happen in any of the 4 reg settings or when applying the brake except if the battery is full or there's emergency foot braking.

Ron

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Don't forget about pad to metal that occurs when regen is too low (at any speed, but always at very slow speeds) to produce sufficient deceleration for a given pedal pressure. For example any pedal pressure at all at speeds below ~3-5 mph will use the mechanical brakes.

I was told that D3 and B were the same thing and I thought I'd seen the brake lights coming on in D3 too. I'll have to look some more.