Regen on cruisecontrol?

SCB86 said:
Sounds like it does use regen then! Lucky you
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RossN said:
and that is MG 5 as well ?
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I tested this in my 5 and posted about it in the 5 forum:

Is there a sun glasses holder by the rear view mirror on the MG5?


jonathanhoey said:
I did a bit of an experiment in my MG5 Excite over the last couple of days.

There's a steep hill near my office.

At the top, I set the cruise control to the minimum speed, which is 20mph.

With 80% battery and KERS 3, the car held exactly 20mph all the way down the hill.

Went back the next day, straight from a full charge, and did the same thing.

With 100% battery and KERS 2 (because you can't set KERS 3 with a full battery), it did NOT hold the set speed but got up to about 30mph by the bottom.

I didn't try putting it in Neutral and freewheeling down the hill but I suspect I'd have hit a lot more than 30mph.

The inkling I got from this relatively unscientific experiment is that the cruise control WANTS to hold your set speed when going downhill, but does not apply the friction brakes in order to do so. Instead it appears to rely solely on regen - which it can't quite manage with a full battery.
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As for brake lights, I always drive my 5 on KERS 3 and I do not believe the MG5’s brake lights illuminate at all under regen braking. I’ve nearly been rear-ended twice and I’ve only had the car two weeks ?
 
Last edited:
It should illuminate in level 3 - above certain retardation it's mandated by law that they illuminate the brake lights.
 
Kenuk said:
I have noticed that the brake lights come on when regen is working to warn others you are slowing down. For me this should be a seperate light to show slowing down not stopping. This could be an amber central light so not to confuse with indicators. Just a thought as I disslike being behind a car that is always braking.
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Only on KERS level 3 I think?
 
JodyS21 said:
That's what Miles was saying on the podcast.

I still wish there was a brake light that illuminated on the dash, so you knew for definite.
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Not technically the most complex of things to do - just need to run a pair of wires from one of the rear light clusters ?
 
I quite often tap my brake lights if there is someone behind me even if I dont need to use the brake...just to remind them I am slowing down
 
I have never worried if my brake lights come on with any car, other than a quick check before a MOT. Not sure I need to start being concerned now just 'cos it's an EV.
 
I got flashed by someone today when I let regen3 kick in to slow me down before turning off, I did add a little dab on the brake pedal just before I actually turned off the road.
Obviously I don't know if it was to do with my brake lights/my slowing down etc.
 
JodyS21 said:
I got flashed by someone today when I let regen3 kick in to slow me down before turning off, I did add a little dab on the brake pedal just before I actually turned off the road.
Obviously I don't know if it was to do with my brake lights/my slowing down etc.
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Did you indicate ?
 
SCB86 said:
It should illuminate in level 3 - above certain retardation it's mandated by law that they illuminate the brake lights.
Click to expand...

I was curious about this so I went and looked it up. It's here:


1614867017388.png


Clear as day. If the vehicle engages regen braking when the driver lifts off the accelerator, the stop lamps must light up if the retardation is greater than 1.3 metres/second squared (about 3mph per second).

I can't say for certain that lifting off in the MG5 (sorry, I know this is the ZSEV forum but I'm interloping for the sake of this discussion) causes a braking effect of more than 3mph per second, but it certainly seems plausible.

Likewise I can't say for certain that the brake lights don't come on - only that I have been actively looking for them in my mirrors and haven't seen them, and that I have been flashed from behind (and worse - more on that in a minute) multiple times in my first couple of weeks of owning the car.

Gomev said:
I have never worried if my brake lights come on with any car, other than a quick check before a MOT. Not sure I need to start being concerned now just 'cos it's an EV.
Click to expand...

In my opinion it's not such an issue if you're coming to an EV from a traditional car, because unless you're really intent on downshifting to slow the car via engine braking, you'll be in the habit of using the brake pedal all the time.

I've just taken delivery of my MG EV after three years in a BMW i3, which has heavy regen braking that you can't turn off and which absolutely does trigger the brake lights.

You quickly get used to not using the footbrake very much.

The regen isn't as strong on the MG, but on KERS 3 it's not far off - so the 'one-pedal driving' habit, of slowing by lifting off rather than by applying the footbrake, remains. But inattentive drivers behind seem to be easily caught out if you decelerate without illuminating your brake lights, and they seem to get very angry about it.

Twice now I've been slowing, with indicators on, to turn off at a junction. The following car has swerved out round me and carried on at some speed while leaning on the horn.

I've just fitted a rear-looking dashcam in the back windscreen because I'm fairly certain it's inevitable that I'm going to get rear-ended.

I'm also working on retraining myself to use the brake pedal even when regen would slow me down adequately without it.
 
jonathanhoey said:
I was curious about this so I went and looked it up. It's here:


View attachment 1966

Clear as day. If the vehicle engages regen braking when the driver lifts off the accelerator, the stop lamps must light up if the retardation is greater than 1.3 metres/second squared (about 3mph per second).

I can't say for certain that lifting off in the MG5 (sorry, I know this is the ZSEV forum but I'm interloping for the sake of this discussion) causes a braking effect of more than 3mph per second, but it certainly seems plausible.

Likewise I can't say for certain that the brake lights don't come on - only that I have been actively looking for them in my mirrors and haven't seen them, and that I have been flashed from behind (and worse - more on that in a minute) multiple times in my first couple of weeks of owning the car.



In my opinion it's not such an issue if you're coming to an EV from a traditional car, because unless you're really intent on downshifting to slow the car via engine braking, you'll be in the habit of using the brake pedal all the time.

I've just taken delivery of my MG EV after three years in a BMW i3, which has heavy regen braking that you can't turn off and which absolutely does trigger the brake lights.

You quickly get used to not using the footbrake very much.

The regen isn't as strong on the MG, but on KERS 3 it's not far off - so the 'one-pedal driving' habit, of slowing by lifting off rather than by applying the footbrake, remains. But inattentive drivers behind seem to be easily caught out if you decelerate without illuminating your brake lights, and they seem to get very angry about it.

Twice now I've been slowing, with indicators on, to turn off at a junction. The following car has swerved out round me and carried on at some speed while leaning on the horn.

I've just fitted a rear-looking dashcam in the back windscreen because I'm fairly certain it's inevitable that I'm going to get rear-ended.

I'm also working on retraining myself to use the brake pedal even when regen would slow me down adequately without it.
Click to expand...
I’m not convinced that the brake lights are linked to some form of decelerometer. I’ve been looking at mine (regen3) brake lights only come on at the very last part of lifting off the accelerator. If you feather the accelerator even if you’re slowing down quite significantly you don’t get brake lights until you lift off the last bit. On my ZS anyway. Having said that I don’t think it’s that much different from an ICE with heavy engine breaking. I think we tend to anticipate more in our EV’s and this can catch some road users out who are used to speeding right up to a stop and braking sharply.
 
jonathanhoey said:
I was curious about this so I went and looked it up. It's here:


View attachment 1966

Clear as day. If the vehicle engages regen braking when the driver lifts off the accelerator, the stop lamps must light up if the retardation is greater than 1.3 metres/second squared (about 3mph per second).

I can't say for certain that lifting off in the MG5 (sorry, I know this is the ZSEV forum but I'm interloping for the sake of this discussion) causes a braking effect of more than 3mph per second, but it certainly seems plausible.

Likewise I can't say for certain that the brake lights don't come on - only that I have been actively looking for them in my mirrors and haven't seen them, and that I have been flashed from behind (and worse - more on that in a minute) multiple times in my first couple of weeks of owning the car.



In my opinion it's not such an issue if you're coming to an EV from a traditional car, because unless you're really intent on downshifting to slow the car via engine braking, you'll be in the habit of using the brake pedal all the time.

I've just taken delivery of my MG EV after three years in a BMW i3, which has heavy regen braking that you can't turn off and which absolutely does trigger the brake lights.

You quickly get used to not using the footbrake very much.

The regen isn't as strong on the MG, but on KERS 3 it's not far off - so the 'one-pedal driving' habit, of slowing by lifting off rather than by applying the footbrake, remains. But inattentive drivers behind seem to be easily caught out if you decelerate without illuminating your brake lights, and they seem to get very angry about it.

Twice now I've been slowing, with indicators on, to turn off at a junction. The following car has swerved out round me and carried on at some speed while leaning on the horn.

I've just fitted a rear-looking dashcam in the back windscreen because I'm fairly certain it's inevitable that I'm going to get rear-ended.

I'm also working on retraining myself to use the brake pedal even when regen would slow me down adequately without it.
Click to expand...
Maybe you are indicating too late for their liking ?
 

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