Regen

I live about 17 miles from Bob Smith Mini Cooper, the dealer where I picked up my MINI E.  Most of those miles are on Topanga Canyon Road (TCR, http://tinyurl.com/TPR-17).  That is a good thing when you are in a MINI of any kind, as the road is nice and curvy.

On the way home with 019 I also appreciated the 1,300 foot drop that TCR takes over 11 miles from the top down to the Pacific.  For that drive I never touched the B.R.A.KE. pedal (see my original blog, below, if this is confusing) until I reached the red light at Pacific Coast Highway.  When I left the dealer my “miles remaining” indicator showed 90, at the top of Topanga, it read 88.  At the bottom of the canyon it showed 91 miles remaining, basically “regening” about 3 miles over the 11 miles of downhill driving at an average speed of about 40.

For almost that entire drive down Topanga the “Power” indicator was on the plus side.  I learned on that drive that I could put a little pressure on the G.A.S. pedal to maintain my speed at the limit and still “regen”.  It was a very cool new way to drive.

When I got home a couple miles later and another 350 feet up from sea level the car still read 90 miles available.  I think there are several reasons for this seeming “free ride” home from the dealer:

1. The elevation change, net downhill.
2. Improved “mileage”(explanation follows).
3. Cooler batteries.
4. Display increments (90.4 and 89.6 both read as 90).
5. Measure is approximate.

The computer inside the MINI E must calculate the remaining miles by looking at the charge in the battery and then dividing that by the “mileage” the vehicle is getting, probably averaged over time (I don’t know exactly what the parameters are for that).  The “mileage” on the display is expressed as Amp hours per 100 miles, shown on the display as XXAh/100.  The average mileage my MINI E showed when I picked it up was 78Ah/100 miles.  I assume this is below average, as the car had not been driven under optimal conditions before I got it.  I have recently reset the display and I will let you know what I average later on.

That drive home along Topanga was optimal in more ways than one – all regen, no use of that pedal on the left, and lots of nice curvy road.  This lowered the Ah per 100 miles (to 76), and thereby raised the “miles remaining”.  It also raised the corners of my mouth, while lowering my blood pressure.