Quote:
Originally Posted by cowmeat
Why would you NOT want to drive in "L"? I use every trick I can to achieve better gas mileage, and this one comes courtesy of the manufacturer! It takes a bit to get used to if you haven't driven a car that has this feature, but after driving two Insights which I manually added brake regen buttons to there was no learning curve for me.
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L is not there as a fuel economy tool. It is LOW gear to give you the equivalent of more engine braking for descending steep slopes.
Driving in L makes regeneration more aggressive and allows you to drive with one pedal. You can do the exact same thing with the brake pedal as applying the brake pedal uses regeneration to slow the car (Unless you are in a true panic stop and then the friction brakes are also used)
I experiment driving in L today with my Spark EV. The instrument panel in my Spark shows KW used or gained through regen so the effects are easy to see. In L when I take my foot off the "gas" pedal the car regenerates at a rate of about 20 kw. That is the equivalent of moderately stepping on the brake pedal. In drive, lifting the gas pedal gets about 1 KW of regen and the car coasts almost effortlessly. If I press on the brake I get easily modulated regen from 1 to about 50 KW.