[RedDevil]

7th gear is not the real top gear indeed. Maybe they chose it not to max out to prevent or spread wear over the CVT cones?

D will make the ratio as long as possible, if you are not flooring it that is.
Under 35 mph the enging purrs along at about 1100 rpm and the CVT is somewhere in between minimum and maximum range.
Once you go above 35 mph the CVT maxes out and the revs climb in unison with the speed ar a ratio of 20 RPM per km/h so if I do 100 km/h the RPM is 2000, 80 means 1600, etc.
That would be 2000 RPM at 62 mph, 1600 at 50 mph, etc.
When I use the paddles the 7th gear has about 2400 RPM at 100 km/h; on my UG is see the engine load % drops and instant fuel consumption rises somewhat.

When you accelerate or climb the revs will rise in D, and maybe using the paddles you can keep the revs lower using more assist than D allows for. It is hard to ABA test though.
I do not know how low I can get the RPM to go by shortshifting with the paddles, but I will try it out when I go home this afternoon. The last mile of my commute is mostlly a 20 mph zone.

When going downhill the regen may max out quickly; you raise the revs just to relieve the brakes. I'd say the biggest benefit of using the paddle shifters is that it locks the revs to a speed so you get audial feedback on your speed.