2023 Escape PHEV

[Rangers09]

Since the Order & Discussion thread has a number of PHEV's mentioned, so I thought about starting a new thread to discuss first and any lasting impressions on the PHEV/HEV's. We picked up our 23 Escape PHEV Premium on Thursday and have almost 100 miles on it.

 

Range - The range is very impressive, having got 43 miles from the 1st charge, with at least another 5 miles left in the battery. So very close to 50 miles from a single charge. We can easily complete all our day to day running around town on battery, only using the engine for longer trips. At no time when in auto EV have we had the engine kick-in to supply additional power.

 

Size - Based on the previous 2018 and 2019 Escapes, we get the feeling that it is slightly smaller inside. Haven't done any measurements, but wonder if the floor might be slightly higher to accommodate the battery.

 

Noise - The lack of noise, at start-up is taking some getting used to, especially since the other vehicle is a F-450. We can hear both the reversing signal and slow speed pedestrian warning signal inside the car faintly, with the radio down and windows up. Certainly isn't an issue. With windows closed it is definitely quiet inside when driving. Can't comment on the engine noise, since we haven't used it.

 

Braking - no noise issue upon braking, as others reported. Car comes to an easy stop

 

Synch 4 - almost identical to my 22 F-450, so no issues and easy to get used to.

 

Lights - all previous cars and trucks with auto-lights have had the switch go from off, side lights, headlights, auto-lights. This one the order of headlights and auto-lights is reversed.

 

Gear shift - the centre dial takes a little getting used to. Do like the feature where you can shut the car off and it automatically changes to park. No more warnings on the dash to shift into park.

 

New Feature - I do like the speed sign recognition capability. Passed a speed sign and the dashboard flashed and the picture changed to the new speed. Also like the ability to display both mph and kph speeds, as although we are officially metric, I still think in imperial.

 

No doubt more to come, as we get some more miles on the car. Looking forward to others experiences and anything you learn. 

[sgriffin130]

     We have had our Vapor Blue PHEV with Premium package  since March and are happy with it. We also have a Mach E, so we already had an EVSE in place(ChargePoint). Interestingly there is more room in the cargo area in my Mach E than in the Escape, so it is a bit smaller than expected but we wanted to down size from our Hyundai Santa Fe. The only quirk I have noticed is the occasional loud Fan/Compressor when the car first comes on. It's only really noticeable from the outside and the dealer indicates it is normal.

     I like some things about the interface better than on the Mach E and some things less. I find it comfortable but haven't done a long trip yet. We have not used much gas since we brought it home and typically charge as often as needed to keep the battery at "100%". I had PPF on the front done and ceramic coating on the entire car since it will be kept outside. (No room in the garage for 2 cars).

Power wise it seems better than expected both on electric and gas. The pop-up screen is a nice addition.

[MrCurvedLimos]

Rangers09, I feel like I want to move the discussion about the Grade Assist out of the 2023 Escape Orders thread. To summarize, with a full charge on the battery, I back out of my driveway in EV Now mode, point the car down the hill, and coast down to a stop sign.  As soon as my foot leaves the accelerator, the gas engine turns on with the message, "Engine enabled for system performance." When the car comes to a stop about 140 feet later (I measured the distance with a 300' tape measure), the gas engine turns off again, after running for only about 3 to 10 seconds. And while the hill I live on is fairly steep, the gas engine will also run at some nearby locations where the grade is quite shallow, places people might say are flat. 

 

So here's the latest update: 

I took my Escape in to the dealer last week and asked them to look at it. When I went to pick it up, the service technician told me that Grade Assist could be turned on and off via a menu setting. I said that I looked but couldn't find it, and asked him to show me where. When he started digging through the menus, he couldn't find it either. So he called the mechanic who had worked on it. She came out and redid the search for the elusive menu setting, but to no avail. She was perplexed and said she would forward the question to a Ford field service engineer, which could take a few days to get an answer. As the service tech and I walked back inside, he told me that my Escape PHEV is the first 2023 they've had in the shop. Even the mechanic had not previously seen one.

 

When the FSE sent a reply the next day, the service tech gave me a copy of it. The mechanic asked, "When coasting downhill in hybrid mode, engine mode turns on. Verified customer concern on a test drive, suspect to be engine braking occurring.  ... Is there a way to turn this feature off or is it a normal characteristic of the vehicle?"

 

The FSE replied, "...it is suspected the concern is what you believe, engine braking related. The vehicle will use regenerative brake and/or gas engine brake to control the vehicles speed when descending a hill depending on a number of factors including state of charge of the HV battery, engine temperature, etc. This can occur both with or without cruise control set if the vehicle experiences gains in speed with no throttle input. This can be compared to a like unit as it is suspected to be normal operation."

 

Well, comparing it to a like unit is hard to do, when they already told me that mine is the first one they've seen.

 

Rangers09, you said, "We also live at the top of a fairly steep hill, with some of the grades being as much as 15%. Had the PHEV now about 2 weeks and heading down hill we have never found the engine start. The only difference, is we have left it in EV Auto. Can't see how EV Auto and EV Now would make a difference, but might be worth trying to change the mode. Good luck getting it resolved."

 

So... Wanna help me with an experiment? Charge your car up to full (100%), set it on EV Now mode, turn the heat and A/C off, and try coasting down some of your neighborhood hills. Does the gas engine turn on? I'll charge mine up to full, set it on Auto EV mode, and see if I get any different result from what I've been observing. Do you normally charge yours to 100%, or have you set a lower limit on the maximum charge? 

[Rangers09]

11 hours ago, MrCurvedLimos said:

Rangers09, I feel like I want to move the discussion about the Grade Assist out of the 2023 Escape Orders thread. To summarize, with a full charge on the battery, I back out of my driveway in EV Now mode, point the car down the hill, and coast down to a stop sign.  As soon as my foot leaves the accelerator, the gas engine turns on with the message, "Engine enabled for system performance." When the car comes to a stop about 140 feet later (I measured the distance with a 300' tape measure), the gas engine turns off again, after running for only about 3 to 10 seconds. And while the hill I live on is fairly steep, the gas engine will also run at some nearby locations where the grade is quite shallow, places people might say are flat. 

 

So here's the latest update: 

I took my Escape in to the dealer last week and asked them to look at it. When I went to pick it up, the service technician told me that Grade Assist could be turned on and off via a menu setting. I said that I looked but couldn't find it, and asked him to show me where. When he started digging through the menus, he couldn't find it either. So he called the mechanic who had worked on it. She came out and redid the search for the elusive menu setting, but to no avail. She was perplexed and said she would forward the question to a Ford field service engineer, which could take a few days to get an answer. As the service tech and I walked back inside, he told me that my Escape PHEV is the first 2023 they've had in the shop. Even the mechanic had not previously seen one.

 

When the FSE sent a reply the next day, the service tech gave me a copy of it. The mechanic asked, "When coasting downhill in hybrid mode, engine mode turns on. Verified customer concern on a test drive, suspect to be engine braking occurring.  ... Is there a way to turn this feature off or is it a normal characteristic of the vehicle?"

 

The FSE replied, "...it is suspected the concern is what you believe, engine braking related. The vehicle will use regenerative brake and/or gas engine brake to control the vehicles speed when descending a hill depending on a number of factors including state of charge of the HV battery, engine temperature, etc. This can occur both with or without cruise control set if the vehicle experiences gains in speed with no throttle input. This can be compared to a like unit as it is suspected to be normal operation."

 

Well, comparing it to a like unit is hard to do, when they already told me that mine is the first one they've seen.

 

Rangers09, you said, "We also live at the top of a fairly steep hill, with some of the grades being as much as 15%. Had the PHEV now about 2 weeks and heading down hill we have never found the engine start. The only difference, is we have left it in EV Auto. Can't see how EV Auto and EV Now would make a difference, but might be worth trying to change the mode. Good luck getting it resolved."

 

So... Wanna help me with an experiment? Charge your car up to full (100%), set it on EV Now mode, turn the heat and A/C off, and try coasting down some of your neighborhood hills. Does the gas engine turn on? I'll charge mine up to full, set it on Auto EV mode, and see if I get any different result from what I've been observing. Do you normally charge yours to 100%, or have you set a lower limit on the maximum charge? 

 

Glad to assist, but we are in Victoria for a couple of weeks, not getting home until the middle of the month.

 

When running around town, we normally charge at home about every 2nd day, so at least 50% of the time we leave home on a full charge. Haven't noted any difference based on the battery charge. On one of the short hills (about 500-600') that is 15 - 20%, if just coasting down, we have found the regenerative braking so efficient that we have to tap the accelerator pedal. 

 

On the trip over to Victoria, we departed fully charged and once down the hill changed it to EV Later, hoping to save the electric for driving around Victoria. Took a few miles to get the engine to start and electric motor to shut down. Going to read over the manual again to see if I missed something.

 

No charge limit is currently set, but I am planning to set it to 85 - 90% limit on the charge to hopefully prolong the battery life.

[MrCurvedLimos]

I did my experiment with Auto EV. It made no difference. I estimate my street is about a 10% grade, dropping about 14 feet from my driveway down the 140 feet to the stop sign. With a full charge on the battery, the gas engine started in Auto EV mode just the same way it does in EV Now mode. No change.

 

The behavior of the accelerator is a lot different from the C-Max. The regen is a LOT stronger when you coast. The Escape PHEV seems to actually try to hold the car at a given speed via regen/engine braking. The C-Max would pick up speed coasting down a hill, just like any normal gas engine car. The Escape for some reason is tuned to hold its speed constant if it can. In order to actually coast like any other car, you have to keep your toe on the accelerator just the tiniest little bit to keep the regen from grabbing. 

 

And the braking is very finicky. When I'm driving down my street toward the stop sign, the Escape PHEV is doing its super-speed-holding thing trying to "coast at a constant speed," either through regen or by running the gas engine at high RPM. But things get dicey as I get near the stop sign and prepare to stop.

 

The first thing that happens as I touch the brake pedal is that the regen cuts out. But the brakes aren't engaged yet, so all of a sudden the car is actually coasting free down a steep hill. It rapidly picks up speed and wants to shoot past the stop sign out into the intersection. If you're not expecting it, wow, you wind up stomping on the brake to keep the car under control. I've mashed the pedal and screeched the brakes a couple times, because the car unexpectedly shoots forward as I put my foot on the brake! 

 

Definitely a learning curve on this beast. 

[Rangers09]

I did a couple of tests yesterday on some hills I came upon when driving around town. Unfortunately the battery wasn't fully charged. Since the screen we use just has a small engine icon, grey when not running and white when running (really difficult to tell the difference), I changed the screen to the Power Flow to get a clearer indication of whether the engine starts.

 

In EV Auto + ECO, the first hill was short, but steep -  about 30 yds and 15 - 20%. I was going slow and applied the brakes lightly at the top. The regen held the speed at the same slow speed with light application of the brakes. Power flow showed regen to the battery, but the engine didn't start.

 

Later, I came across another hill in a 30 K/hr zone, it was about 300 yds long and at times about 10%. Same mode as before, with same screens. Took foot off the accelerator, so regen shows power going back to the battery. Regen held the speed with gentle application on the brake pedal. Engine did not show as starting on the Power Flow screen.

 

I will try a few combinations when we get home next week with a fully charged battery. 

[Rangers09]

Experienced another substantial hill today - length was about 1/2 mile and mostly a 14% slope down.

 

Battery was only recharged to 61% at the top of the hill. Car was in EV Auto + normal. I decided not to use the brakes to see how the car responded. Went down the entire hill at an almost constant speed (25 mph), without the engine starting or touching the brakes. Battery charge went from 61 to 63%.

[Rangers09]

On 7/8/2023 at 7:51 PM, MrCurvedLimos said:

I did my experiment with Auto EV. It made no difference. I estimate my street is about a 10% grade, dropping about 14 feet from my driveway down the 140 feet to the stop sign. With a full charge on the battery, the gas engine started in Auto EV mode just the same way it does in EV Now mode. No change.

 

The behavior of the accelerator is a lot different from the C-Max. The regen is a LOT stronger when you coast. The Escape PHEV seems to actually try to hold the car at a given speed via regen/engine braking. The C-Max would pick up speed coasting down a hill, just like any normal gas engine car. The Escape for some reason is tuned to hold its speed constant if it can. In order to actually coast like any other car, you have to keep your toe on the accelerator just the tiniest little bit to keep the regen from grabbing. 

 

And the braking is very finicky. When I'm driving down my street toward the stop sign, the Escape PHEV is doing its super-speed-holding thing trying to "coast at a constant speed," either through regen or by running the gas engine at high RPM. But things get dicey as I get near the stop sign and prepare to stop.

 

The first thing that happens as I touch the brake pedal is that the regen cuts out. But the brakes aren't engaged yet, so all of a sudden the car is actually coasting free down a steep hill. It rapidly picks up speed and wants to shoot past the stop sign out into the intersection. If you're not expecting it, wow, you wind up stomping on the brake to keep the car under control. I've mashed the pedal and screeched the brakes a couple times, because the car unexpectedly shoots forward as I put my foot on the brake! 

 

Definitely a learning curve on this beast. 

 

We finally got home and charged the battery to 100%, so I finally experienced what you have been seeing.

 

Backed out of garage, drove about 250 yds to the top of one of our exit hills. I carried a little more speed than previous times, as at the 90 degree corner about 1/2 way down, I had to brake more than usual. With the screen on "Power Flow", I noted it changed from "Electric Driving" to "Engine ........." Was a little busy with traffic, so couldn't read the rest of the message. However, the engine icon on the dash didn't light up and the power flow screen didn't show the engine on. EV Auto & normal, with battery at 100%.

 

At another smaller hill, I again noted the engine on message on the power flow screen, with the battery about 94%. Upon reaching the destination, the summary noted the distance and mention all electric driving.

 

Later, I went down a couple more hills when the battery was < 83% and the engine did not start.
 

[GaryG]

10 hours ago, Rangers09 said:

 

We finally got home and charged the battery to 100%, so I finally experienced what you have been seeing.

 

Backed out of garage, drove about 250 yds to the top of one of our exit hills. I carried a little more speed than previous times, as at the 90 degree corner about 1/2 way down, I had to brake more than usual. With the screen on "Power Flow", I noted it changed from "Electric Driving" to "Engine ........." Was a little busy with traffic, so couldn't read the rest of the message. However, the engine icon on the dash didn't light up and the power flow screen didn't show the engine on. EV Auto & normal, with battery at 100%.

 

At another smaller hill, I again noted the engine on message on the power flow screen, with the battery about 94%. Upon reaching the destination, the summary noted the distance and mention all electric driving.

 

Later, I went down a couple more hills when the battery was < 83% and the engine did not start.
 

When conditions such as over charging over 100% or the traction battery is to cold or hot, MG2 will spin the engine without fuel to burn regen from applying the brakes. To prevent the engine from spinning from regen going down hill you should be able to shift to neutral to stop regen. This will eliminate regen from braking. When hypermiling preventing the engine spin saves gas because the engine will run after the spin until the warm-up procedure is complete.

[Rangers09]

19 minutes ago, GaryG said:

When conditions such as over charging over 100% or the traction battery is to cold or hot, MG2 will spin the engine without fuel to burn regen from applying the brakes. To prevent the engine from spinning from regen going down hill you should be able to shift to neutral to stop regen. This will eliminate regen from braking. When hypermiling preventing the engine spin saves gas because the engine will run after the spin until the warm-up procedure is complete.

 

I'm going to set up the home charger to a max charge of 85%, which will also resolve the issue and is sufficient power for most of our daily driving around town.

[MrCurvedLimos]

The engine has come on in our Escape PHEV when coasting downhill with the battery charge as low as 60%. Usually we don't see the "Engine enabled for system performance" message or hear the engine run if the battery charge is about 70%. So it was a surprise to me one day when we hadn't charged overnight and had only 60% charge on the battery, when the engine came on. It was the same steep street in our neighborhood where it always happens. (I don't know how steep that street is, but I think of it as "San Francisco steep.")

 

Also, speed doesn't make a difference. When I back out of my driveway, I start from a stop, take my foot off the brake, let it coast, no gas pedal, and the engine will come on at about 6 mph. It happens reliably with 80% charge on the battery. 6 mph and 80% charge, the engine comes on. Usually doesn't happen at the end of our driveway if only 70% charge. But limiting the charge to 70%, we get only 26 miles of range, not the advertised 37, which is a big bummer. 

 

There's no warmup period associated with this. From cold, the engine will run for a few seconds (5-15 seconds) then shut off again. I've considered the possibility that the system could be braking by closing the valves on the engine to create compression, without actually firing the cylinders. If I were designing engines instead of the job I do, I would certainly think that was worth trying. But I don't believe that's the situation. When I come to a dead stop, there's about a 1-second lag till the engine shuts off. That lag can't occur unless the cylinders are firing. 

 

GaryG, what does MG2 mean? 

Edited July 21, 2023 by MrCurvedLimos

[GaryG]

On 7/18/2023 at 11:47 PM, Rangers09 said:

 

I'm going to set up the home charger to a max charge of 85%, which will also resolve the issue and is sufficient power for most of our daily driving around town.

Nothing will hurt the engine so no reason to limit the charge. I discovered you can get a better charge with the A/C on while charging in fact. The battery gets hot while charging and if you run the A/C while plugged in charging it stays cooler with the cabin air on in hot weather. Of course you turn off the ignition and A/C when fully charged. Keeping the battery temperature as close to 78F as possible helps balance the battery cells to a full 100% charge. With all cells charged to as close to 100% you can get the most distance in EV. I could get around 3 extra miles out of a 100% battery charged in my C Max Energi. 

[GaryG]

On 7/19/2023 at 7:40 AM, MrCurvedLimos said:

The engine has come on in our Escape PHEV when coasting downhill with the battery charge as low as 60%. Usually we don't see the "Engine enabled for system performance" message or hear the engine run if the battery charge is about 70%. So it was a surprise to me one day when we hadn't charged overnight and had only 60% charge on the battery, when the engine came on. It was the same steep street in our neighborhood where it always happens. (I don't know how steep that street is, but I think of it as "San Francisco steep.")

 

Also, speed doesn't make a difference. When I back out of my driveway, I start from a stop, take my foot off the brake, let it coast, no gas pedal, and the engine will come on at about 6 mph. It happens reliably with 80% charge on the battery. 6 mph and 80% charge, the engine comes on. Usually doesn't happen at the end of our driveway if only 70% charge. But limiting the charge to 70%, we get only 26 miles of range, not the advertised 37, which is a big bummer. 

 

There's no warmup period associated with this. From cold, the engine will run for a few seconds (5-15 seconds) then shut off again. I've considered the possibility that the system could be braking by closing the valves on the engine to create compression, without actually firing the cylinders. If I were designing engines instead of the job I do, I would certainly think that was worth trying. But I don't believe that's the situation. When I come to a dead stop, there's about a 1-second lag till the engine shuts off. That lag can't occur unless the cylinders are firing. 

 

GaryG, what does MG2 mean?  

MG2 is motor/generator 2 in the ecvt. Ford may have deleted or modified the engine warm-up mode in the newer Escape plug-in. In colder weather the battery cannot take a fast regen charge as I mentioned above either hot or cold battery. It wouldn't matter at what % the battery is because the fast DC to DC battery charge coming from MG2 cannot go into the battery if it's to cold or hot. Try shifting to neutral because that will eliminate regen completely and prevent a engine start in EV when applying the brakes. It doesn't need to be that cold for the battery to not accept the fast MG2 charge because I got it in South Florida all the time.  

[j2sys]

8 hours ago, GaryG said:

MG2 is motor/generator 2 in the ecvt. Ford may have deleted or modified the engine warm-up mode in the newer Escape plug-in. In colder weather the battery cannot take a fast regen charge as I mentioned above either hot or cold battery. It wouldn't matter at what % the battery is because the fast DC to DC battery charge coming from MG2 cannot go into the battery if it's to cold or hot. Try shifting to neutral because that will eliminate regen completely and prevent a engine start in EV when applying the brakes. It doesn't need to be that cold for the battery to not accept the fast MG2 charge because I got it in South Florida all the time.  

 

Keep in mind that it was only with 2020 Escape that Ford switched over to superior liquid cooling for FHEV and PHEV HVBs, C-Max Hybrid and Energi used forced air cooling.  Thus, some of the thermal characteristics in terms of warm-up and cool-down timing will have naturally changed.

[MrCurvedLimos]

I tried it and it works! Putting the Escape PHEV in neutral (N) does in fact seem to disable the Grade Assist or Hill Descent mode. According to the power meter on the dashboard, it still regenerates into the battery. I tried it on the two steep streets near my house at 70% charge and 90% charge, and the gas engine did not come on in either circumstance. With the engine in drive (D), it would always come on on both streets at 90% charge, and sometimes on one of the streets at 70% charge. With the engine in neutral, the braking response was very controllable and smooth, and did not exhibit any of the weird touchiness and jerkiness that I've experienced in D between regen, gas engine, and regular brakes. Ford has more work to do here, IMHO.

 

I consider this a viable workaround to the unusual design decision that, "Grade Assist should be enabled for around town driving." I didn't like limiting the battery to 70% charge, because a main reason for buying the car was to get significantly longer battery range than the C-Max, and 70% limit nixed that. Also, the 70% limit didn't always keep the gas engine off, whereas Neutral does seem to keep it off reliably, after a few days trying it out. It's a bit weird to shift an automatic transmission car, but I drove a stick shift my whole life before getting the C-Max, so I'm sure it will come back to me.  Many thanks to GaryG for the suggestion. 

 

In the spirit of the original question Rangers09 asked, my wife and I are liking the Gear Shift knob less as we drive the car more. It's too easy in D to spin the knob 2 clicks clockwise (instead of CCW), and think the car's in reverse (R), when in fact it's still in D. Conversely,  we've both shifted from R to D by turning it 2 clicks CCW, and then we're surprised to find ourselves in park (P) when we take our foot off the brake. It would be better if the knob had stops at the ends of travel and could only be turned to one of 4 positions, P R N and D. But the infinite-spinning nature of it makes it confusing; there's no tactile feedback to warn you've made a mistake.

[rperez817]

Good article from Car and Driver reviewing 2023 Ford Escape PHEV. 2023 Ford Escape PHEV: Treading Water (caranddriver.com)

 

 

 

 

[Rangers09]

On 7/27/2023 at 1:07 PM, MrCurvedLimos said:

I tried it and it works! Putting the Escape PHEV in neutral (N) does in fact seem to disable the Grade Assist or Hill Descent mode. According to the power meter on the dashboard, it still regenerates into the battery. I tried it on the two steep streets near my house at 70% charge and 90% charge, and the gas engine did not come on in either circumstance. With the engine in drive (D), it would always come on on both streets at 90% charge, and sometimes on one of the streets at 70% charge. With the engine in neutral, the braking response was very controllable and smooth, and did not exhibit any of the weird touchiness and jerkiness that I've experienced in D between regen, gas engine, and regular brakes. Ford has more work to do here, IMHO.

 

I consider this a viable workaround to the unusual design decision that, "Grade Assist should be enabled for around town driving." I didn't like limiting the battery to 70% charge, because a main reason for buying the car was to get significantly longer battery range than the C-Max, and 70% limit nixed that. Also, the 70% limit didn't always keep the gas engine off, whereas Neutral does seem to keep it off reliably, after a few days trying it out. It's a bit weird to shift an automatic transmission car, but I drove a stick shift my whole life before getting the C-Max, so I'm sure it will come back to me.  Many thanks to GaryG for the suggestion. 

 

In the spirit of the original question Rangers09 asked, my wife and I are liking the Gear Shift knob less as we drive the car more. It's too easy in D to spin the knob 2 clicks clockwise (instead of CCW), and think the car's in reverse (R), when in fact it's still in D. Conversely,  we've both shifted from R to D by turning it 2 clicks CCW, and then we're surprised to find ourselves in park (P) when we take our foot off the brake. It would be better if the knob had stops at the ends of travel and could only be turned to one of 4 positions, P R N and D. But the infinite-spinning nature of it makes it confusing; there's no tactile feedback to warn you've made a mistake.

 

I tried putting the car in neutral yesterday and also found it disabled the hill descent, making it very smooth.

 

Before going to neutral, I selected the Power Flow screen to watch power in/out of the battery. In drive, the regen was returning power to the battery, but as soon as I selected neutral it stopped. The engine didn't kick in, but it wasn't returning any power to the battery. When I returned to drive, the regen resumed and power was going back into the battery.

[MrCurvedLimos]

I was looking only at the power meter on the dashboard.  I'll look at it in the Power Flow screen; I haven't even dug that screen out of the menus yet.

[Rangers09]

21 hours ago, MrCurvedLimos said:

I was looking only at the power meter on the dashboard.  I'll look at it in the Power Flow screen; I haven't even dug that screen out of the menus yet.

 

On the Home screen of the larger monitor, select "Features". Then Power Flow is one of the options.

[MrCurvedLimos]

I found the Power Flow screen yesterday and watched it as I descended the two steep streets leaving home. I agree, it does not show any regen in Neutral.  But at the same time, the power meter on the dash shows "negative and green," like it is regenerating. I find it disconcerting to get 2 different indications at the same time. I guess the power meter isn't displaying what I think it's displaying.

 

I do like the power meter on the dash. At a glance I see how much power is currently being delivered by the battery and the gas engine simultaneously. 

Edited August 3, 2023 by MrCurvedLimos

[Rangers09]

We use the same dashboard screen with the power meter and also like it. Really helps when coming to a stop to manage braking for max regen. I also use it to moderate acceleration, keeping it to a max of 20, when possible. Helps to maximise the range, since I have now set the home charger to 85%. Even at 85% we can still get 40 miles from a charge.

[chodaddy15]

Anyone having issues with the HUD not showing speed limits?

[Rangers09]

4 hours ago, chodaddy15 said:

Anyone having issues with the HUD not showing speed limits?

 

Great question. I expected to only see the speed, so was surprised to note the lane-keeping and distance to the vehicle ahead, but don't recall seeing the speed limit sign. Will check for it today.

[MrCurvedLimos]

I have seen speed limit displayed in the HUD.  But not always.  I haven't figured out when it does and when it doesn't display.  Thinking back, perhaps it only displays the speed limit when cruise control is enabled?  I'm not sure.

 

Another oddity I have experienced 3 times now:  I'm traveling on the highway with cruise control enabled.  Speed limit is 60 mph, maybe I have the cruise control set at 70 to keep up with traffic.  All of a sudden, the car jams on the brakes.  I look down, and for some reason, the car thinks the speed limit has changed to 45 mph.  In all 3 cases, I am certain I did NOT pass any speed limit sign.  The only commonality I can identify is that the places where it's happened were places that maybe 1-2 years ago were construction zones.  They are no longer construction zones now, and any speed restriction that may have been in place previously for construction is no longer present.

 

I don't know why the car would be picking up on long-defunct construction zone speed restrictions, unless they were somehow recorded in the mapping software.  Anyone else experience anything like that?  The sudden vigorous braking seems dangerous to me, when traffic is zooming along at 70 mph.

[Potato]

I don't get any braking, but I don't have the feature to adjust to speed signs enabled. But I do get the speed sign recognition picking up the signs from off-ramps on the highway and it temporarily thinking the speed has dropped to 60 or 70 km/h for a bit before jumping back up to 100 km/h. Is your issue happening just as you pass an off-ramp?