"The Green Ball"

[bill06840]

I drive a Volt and also BMW's ActiveE. The ActiveE's speedometer style "Charge-Ready-Discharge" dial is extreemly useful in maximizing regenerative braking. By watching that dial in conjunction with the accelerator I can increase my range from 3 to 3.5 and even 4 miles per KWh. The Volt's Green Ball simply spins in the middle of the dial and only moves down in a sudden stop or up if you "stomp" on the accererator. I would strongly recommend the Green Ball be reprogrammed to provide the driver with a "live-time" indication of whether the driver's accelerator use is charging or discharging the battery like my ActiveE does. In stop-and-go Manhattan traffic I can tell from this ActiveE "regen" dial that there's virtually NO battery depletion if I accelerate and slow-down correctly. I think my Volt would act the same way IF i had this kind of information - not merely a floating Green Ball! My wife and I love the Volt and really want to see it succeed AND improve!

[tboult]

I drive a Volt and also BMW's ActiveE. The ActiveE's speedometer style "Charge-Ready-Discharge" dial is extreemly useful in maximizing regenerative braking. By watching that dial in conjunction with the accelerator I can increase my range from 3 to 3.5 and even 4 miles per KWh. The Volt's Green Ball simply spins in the middle of the dial and only moves down in a sudden stop or up if you "stomp" on the accererator. I would strongly recommend the Green Ball be reprogrammed to provide the driver with a "live-time" indication of whether the driver's accelerator use is charging or discharging the battery like my ActiveE does. In stop-and-go Manhattan traffic I can tell from this ActiveE "regen" dial that there's virtually NO battery depletion if I accelerate and slow-down correctly. I think my Volt would act the same way IF i had this kind of information - not merely a floating Green Ball! My wife and I love the Volt and really want to see it succeed AND improve!

If you turn the middle console onto power-flow mode (image of the car) you can see if you are doing regen or using power.

The green ball has a range of subtle clues. it will reduce the speed of spinning as you do less efficient things, it will loose its leaves (just about when friction brakes come on). It moves up if you accelerating too hard, down if you are braking/regen too often.

[bill06840]

If you turn the middle console onto power-flow mode (image of the car) you can see if you are doing regen or using power.

The green ball has a range of subtle clues. it will reduce the speed of spinning as you do less efficient things, it will loose its leaves (just about when friction brakes come on). It moves up if you accelerating too hard, down if you are braking/regen too often.

Wow, I guess I should go back and RTFM! Never knew the subtile info displayed by the Green Ball. But would personally like to see Green Ball move up and down showing regen in real time. However, don't understand how you can ever "regen too often" !

[tboult]

Wow, I guess I should go back and RTFM! Never knew the subtile info displayed by the Green Ball. But would personally like to see Green Ball move up and down showing regen in real time. However, don't understand how you can ever "regen too often" !

If you accelerate aggressively then regen, you could have gone slower and coasted a bit rather than overly aggressively doing regen. Regen only recovers a part fo the power you put into it.

I'd like a geek mode where I could see instand kWh usage..

[DonC]

The vast majority of folks here would probably like more information but the green ball gets the job done in a very small space in an easy to understand way. People who take a test drive seem to take to it immediately. Plus there is something to be said about paying attention to the road rather than the dash.

I'd leave the green ball and put the more detailed information for power flow on the center console.

[BAZINGA]

I find the "green ball" to be very sensitive, and when coupled with the center LCD power flow display I can see kWh used reducing during regen braking. That's so cool, if this were an old fashioned car that would be like someone running along side the car with a can of gas adding some every once in a while.

But to be honest, I find I'm driving in SPORT mode more frequently and have stopped worrying about my kWh consumptuion.

[volt11]

I think the green ball works well enough, but what's surprising is how confusing it seems to be to the average person, and by that I mean the automotive journalist. A few times I have read articles where they are interpreting the movements of the ball incorrectly, particularly when it comes to braking.

[kickincanada]

never pay attention to the green ball. i just like to have fun in my car. but it catches the attention of anyone who drive my car though.

[dax777]

That green ball can be very sensitive if you pay attention to the minor edge of the green ball, keeping in the center is not enough for me, i like to keep it dead center with no movement at all around the edges, try it and you will see the difference...coasting also adds regen as well, I use the L shift as I would a standard transmission for slowing, works great for me...

[mhoepfin]

I don't pay attention to the green ball anymore. I drive how I want, when I want. Worst case is usually only a couple of miles hit to my range. It's more fun to have fun than worry about eeking out 1 more mile.

Same goes for Air Conditioning, Comfort all the way