Anyone come close to a full downhill regeneration of the battery such as with coasting/braking down a mountain? I was able to regenerate 5.8 miles coming back from Lake Tahoe at one point driving down highway 50. I probably could have recouped a couple more, but didn't want to hold up traffic.
Max regen heats up the battery real good... It's safe to do, the car knows how to protect itself... You'll get all your questions answered if you head over here where we're a having a discussion about this very subject: Thermal performance of gen 2 Prius HV battery | PriusChat
Yes, in my Basic PIP I have several times experienced full regeneration of the battery. I started at about 6,000 feet, ended up around 2,000 feet, and in 18 - 20 minutes filled the battery.
Very nice. What would you say your average speed was down the mountain and grade? On my recent trip, the 5.8 mile regen was from about 7,200 feet to 4000 feet, I averaged about 50-55mph and most of the regen happened on 7% grade. I was thinking, if there were no other cars on the road, I could coast/brake down almost any lesser grade, but any slower and I would have some angry drivers behind me, so was really only able to do most of the regen on 7% grade moderately riding the brake with traffic.
Really? All our PiP "Max Regen Downhill" questions will be answered in the linked discussion? The link you give isn't for the PiP's lithium battery, which among other differences has a much higher charging capacity than the NiMH. Thanks to iplug for starting this thread!
