Difference between Eco, normal and sport modes

[Anon70]

It depends how many miles will be driven with the ACC on.

ECO will mean you have to push the go pedal harder to use more battery, if you will be accelerating gently in normal mode you will achieve the same thing.

As mentioned above in the XPower eco prevents the front motor engaging, but this can be achieved in normal mode with gentle acceleration.

The other time eco will save you battery is if you have the heater set to reduce power use when it eco is active. Another way to achieve this is just to turn off the HVAC all together.

With the ambient temperature above 15 deg C it will be driving style as much as mode that gives better efficiency.

 

[siteguru]

I think ECO mode in the xpower only uses the rear motor and save considerable power

Normal mode is the same, unless you put the boot down.

Sport mode (I think) permanently engages both motors.

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

I think ECO mode in the xpower only uses the rear motor and save considerable power

Regardless of mode excluding Sport and Snow where it is permanent 4WD (Forwards Only!!)

Normal, Eco, and Custom will ALL engage the front motor if you accelerate hard enough.

 

[mikgle]

Not sure ECO makes a blind bit of difference when cruising.

ha, how long do you stay cruising on our motorways? 1 minute? 2 if your lucky..

 

[jackhill1]

Hi, I haven't seen this anywhere, so asking here.

There are eco, normal and sport modes - what are the differences? Is it just the feel of the car? I know sport steering is heavier than eco, but is the rest of it just down to a different throttle response, ie sport is harsher for the same throttle input? Or does sport mode actually have more power and acceleration?

If you drove all the modes in the same way, ie moderate acceleration, same cruising speed, same regen braking, would eco actually be any more economical (assuming the AC isn't set to go to eco mode at the same time) ? I haven't read anything to indicate why eco would be more economical.

Thanks

When you look at the screen in font of you, you will see it is set to normal, it will show you the range, now select sport and you will see range drops now select eco and you will see high range of miles.

 

[cliver1956]

"Avoid regen and braking at all costs"

Why avoid regen? I thought it was there to increase range a bit by feeding energy back into the battery, as opposed to braking which simply absorbes energy and dissipates it as heat?

 

[rtenterprises]

Avoid regen because it’s very inefficient. I saw an experiment where a guy drove up a very long mountain and it used 8% battery. Then he used regen all the way down and recovered only 2%.
Point is you can only recover a small amount of any energy expended.
So it’s more efficient to coast when possible and use zero energy rather than regen and slow the car down only to accelerate again.

Also the cruise control is so twitchy in anything except ECO, it’s horrid in sport mode.

Eco reduces the power to only 250bhp instead of the 435bhp in sport.
ECO mode is very useful in my XPOWER so as not to snap my wife’s neck.

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

Avoid regen because it’s very inefficient. I saw an experiment where a guy drove up a very long mountain and it used 8% battery. Then he used regen all the way down and recovered only 2%.
Point is you can only recover a small amount of any energy expended.
So it’s more efficient to coast when possible and use zero energy rather than regen and slow the car down only to accelerate again.

Also the cruise control is so twitchy in anything except ECO, it’s horrid in sport mode.

Eco reduces the power to only 250bhp instead of the 435bhp in sport.
ECO mode is very useful in my XPOWER so as not to snap my wife’s neck.

And pray tell, where did you see that?

Did you expect he would recover the 8% back?

The point of regen is that it is free electric and slows the car instead of the brakes (obvs)

I hardly ever touch the brakes so the free power on regen is minuscule but welcome.

You will have full power and 4WD in ECO mode if you stomp on the loud pedal hard enough!

ECO mode only affects the accelerator pedal in as much as it makes it dull to respond.

 

[JonnyG]

...............Point is you can only recover a small amount of any energy expended.........

agreed ..... but surely If the guy you mention did'nt use regen at all (as you suggest), and just coasted downhill, he'd never have recovered any energy at all ?

 

[crite40]

This is,nt scientific but I think the MG4 works best in normal I.E just drive
faffing about before each trip resetting regen and driving mode somehow detracts from the enjoyment of the car

I don't know about the MG4 but in my ZS EV all you have to do is throw the left hand switch! I don't reckon that is much of a chore. BTW even in Eco mode it has fantastic acceleration and gets past slow trucks etc REAL quick.

 

[crite40]

And pray tell, where did you see that?

Did you expect he would recover the 8% back?

The point of regen is that it is free electric and slows the car instead of the brakes (obvs)

I hardly ever touch the brakes so the free power on regen is minuscule but welcome.

You will have full power and 4WD in ECO mode if you stomp on the loud pedal hard enough!

ECO mode only affects the accelerator pedal in as much as it makes it dull to respond.

I'm rather puzzled by the alleged low regen efficiency! As a retired electronics engineer who has built 5 electric vehicles before getting an MG at 81 I would expect around 75 to 80 % energy recovery allowing for normal losses. I wonder what regeneration level he was using? Mine is normally set to 3 and the car is run in Eco mode. I see no reason to wear my brakes when I can slow the car and recover at least some of the kinetic energy rather than just wasting it as heat.
BTW I had a look at a new KIA EV the other day, I was surprised at the low power of the motor, it was 77 kW rather than the 104 of the MG. This would give a longer range of course, but I wonder does MG in Shanghai suffer from a hangover from the old MG name and build in sports performance?

 

[decrep]

This, Don't use regen thing, is absurd!
The alternative is the brakes, that just waste energy.
Perhaps, what is really meant, is don't accelerate hard and slow down hard, expecting regen to recover wasted energy.
Just drive smoothly and avoid unnecessary accelerating and braking.
Same with any car.

 

[ozzz]

Hi, there are threads on here with throttle response graphs.
You need to just try different modes until you find one that suits your driving style.

Eco is good for granddaughter learning to drive heavy foot sometimes.

 

[crite40]

Well, I would very much like to see some measurements of the recovered energy from regenerative braking. Random thoughts and hand waving aside! I do know that kinetic energy is removed quite quickly in mode 3, either there is a lot of waste heat in the motor/generator or controller, or quite a bit of energy is flowing back into the battery. A SERIOUS question, has anyone done any REAL measurements. This information must be around somewhere. After all I spent 60 years as an electronic engineer, built 5 electric vehicles and was the technician who grew the very first Indium Antimonide single crystals (Hall effect) back in my youth in the early 1960's, so I have a genuine interest.
As to brakes, are people not aware that one of the big advantages of a hybrid/electric vehicle is brake life?

 

[decrep]

So what does the power meter show? is that kWs in and out of the battery?. If so it's putting in almost the same as it takes out.
But it would be good to see a graph of it.
An accelerometer would be handy, then you could compare the power meter with the same Gs accelerating and slowing.

Wire an ammeter in series with the battery. My old car had them, to show if the primitive charging circuit worked.

 

[crite40]

So what does the power meter show? is that kWs in and out of the battery?. If so it's putting in almost the same as it takes out.
But it would be good to see a graph of it.
An accelerometer would be handy, then you could compare the power meter with the same Gs accelerating and slowing.

Wire an ammeter in series with the battery. My old car had them, to show if the primitive charging circuit worked.

It would have to be a Hall effect meter as the currents involved can be pretty high, but it could even be retro fitted. You just have to clamp the sensor over one of the main battery leads and run 3 light wires up to where the display sits, Most would run fine off the 12 volt supply. Think about it, the motors peak power is around 100 kW at 480 volts (last time I checked) that represents a current of just over 200 amps. That is peak of course, but typical driving would be of the order of 30/40 Amps.
The losses in the wiring of an old type Ammeter would be horrendous, hence the Hall sensor. But this would at least answer some of the queries about regenerative braking and does NOT involve interfering with the high current wiring. FYI I have done exactly this on my mobility scooter so I can keep track of my replacement Lithium batteries.

 

[rtenterprises]

This, Don't use regen thing, is absurd!
The alternative is the brakes, that just waste energy.
Perhaps, what is really meant, is don't accelerate hard and slow down hard, expecting regen to recover wasted energy.
Just drive smoothly and avoid unnecessary accelerating and braking.
Same with any car.

No you’re missing a key piece of info.
When you press the brakes it regenerates energy, then only uses the lossy brake pads if you press really hard and/or to stop completely.

 

[DLW]

Why the hell anyone bothers with ECO mode in any EV baffles me.
Completely nullifies what’s best about EVs.
Like buying a nice stereo and hanging washing over the speakers.
Mentalist behaviour.

Well, there are those odd occasions where you simply have to use eco to make sure you get to your destination!!!!!! LOL!

 

[fnegroni]

No you’re missing a key piece of info.
When you press the brakes it regenerates energy, then only uses the lossy brake pads if you press really hard and/or to stop completely.

Agree. It's the biggest misunderstanding of Regen in the MG4.
Although when pressing the brake pedal you get slightly less regen before the pads make contact with the disks in normal and sport mode. Which is why Eco feels like it does.
When in Eco mode I get lots of squealing from the brakes if they have not been used much recently.

The regen setting only really affects the Go pedal regen curve.

 

[decrep]

No you’re missing a key piece of info.
When you press the brakes it regenerates energy, then only uses the lossy brake pads if you press really hard and/or to stop completely.

So, still using regen. Why then say, "don't use regen", doesn't make sense.
The only way not to use regen is put it in neutral and use the brakes, and I certainly wouldn't advise that.

And how can not using regen be more economical, as I said that's absurd.