Ever wondered just how much regenerative braking your electric vehicle (EV) is actually using? Like many EV enthusiasts, understanding the real-world impact of regen on a drive can be fascinating. Using a car scanning tool, specifically the Car Scanner app, provides a fantastic way to delve into this data and see the numbers for yourself.
Recently, during a 26-mile trip encompassing both freeway and city driving, I decided to record OBD parameters to quantify the regenerative braking I was experiencing. The Car Scanner app’s data logging feature is perfect for this, allowing you to export detailed driving data for in-depth analysis.
The trip, lasting 50 minutes and 14 seconds and covering 26.013 miles, started with a 100% State of Charge (SOC) and concluded at 60%. Looking at the raw data, the car initially used 7.255261 KWh of battery capacity. However, thanks to regenerative braking, a significant 1.61607 KWh was regenerated back into the battery. This resulted in a net battery usage of just 5.639189 KWh.
This translates to an impressive ~22.3% regeneration rate, which was higher than initially anticipated. The impact on efficiency is clear: my trip MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent) was 155 with regen included, and 121 MPGe if calculated without considering the energy regained through regenerative braking.
To achieve these figures, the process involved:
- Recording driving data using the Car Scanner app.
- Exporting the data to a CSV file for further analysis.
- Utilizing Excel to graph the data and calculate the area under the curve, determining the net energy consumption (5.639189 KWh).
- Calculating the area under the curve for positive values to find the total energy drawn from the battery (7.255261 KWh).
- Calculating the area under the curve for negative values to quantify the regenerated energy (1.61607 KWh).
In conclusion, these findings highlight that regenerative braking contributes significantly to the efficiency of electric vehicles. A car scanning tool like Car Scanner is invaluable for gaining insights into your EV’s performance and truly seeing “inside” how features like regenerative braking are working to enhance your driving experience and energy usage. The data clearly indicates that around 22-25% regeneration is achievable in mixed driving conditions, making a substantial difference in overall EV efficiency.
