Looking for Advice for Mountain Driving

[Dad]

I will be taking my 2022 Hybrid up to the mountains in Southern California for the first time this summer and would like to hear any advice about the best way to navigate downhill. Not too worried about going up, just coming down. My Hyundai Palisade has paddles and they worked great in controlling my speed and maneuverability. Unfortunately, as we all know, the Maverick is sans paddle shifting and I'm not sure what to expect with the hybrid's eCVT transmission. I'm not talking about off-roading . . . strictly on the highway and smaller roads.

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[stevj]

From my experience, once your battery is recharged to its designed maximum on a downhill run, regen braking stops, because the battery cannot be charged past that limit, and the motor starts to provide some drag to help control the effects of gravity.

Steve

 

[tom_tucker]

I will be taking my 2022 Hybrid up to the mountains in Southern California for the first time this summer and would like to hear any advice about the best way to navigate downhill. Not too worried about going up, just coming down. My Hyundai Palisade has paddles and they worked great in controlling my speed and maneuverability. Unfortunately, as we all know, the Maverick is sans paddle shifting and I'm not sure what to expect with the hybrid's eCVT transmission. I'm not talking about off-roading . . . strictly on the highway and smaller roads.

It's a good time to use eco mode and watch the curves on the gps. Crest the mtn with electric power. You can modulate the throttle to bring the needle up on the way down or use the brake pedal to bring the needle close to the metal. At some point it's going to turn on engine braking to spin off the extra power. You just have to stay lightly on the brake or throttle and let it do it's thing. It can wind up and get really loud on long downhills. When you get near the bottom, you have to coax it out of the air pump braking. If it's a low power run out, you stay in electric driving until the next uphill.

 

[blkSTIG32]

Here in Colorado Springs when visitors drive down from the summit of Pikes Peak there are checkpoints where the park rangers check the brake temperature. If their brakes are too hot they won’t let you continue until they do.

 

[icegradner]

I will be taking my 2022 Hybrid up to the mountains in Southern California for the first time this summer and would like to hear any advice about the best way to navigate downhill. Not too worried about going up, just coming down. My Hyundai Palisade has paddles and they worked great in controlling my speed and maneuverability. Unfortunately, as we all know, the Maverick is sans paddle shifting and I'm not sure what to expect with the hybrid's eCVT transmission. I'm not talking about off-roading . . . strictly on the highway and smaller roads.

On steep grades the truck will use regen to slow the truck. When the battery is full it will switch over to engine braking. Don't sweat it. If you feel you are going too fast before it switches to engine braking just hit the "L" button. I've been on steep grades 6-12%, never had an issue.

 

[Cherokee]

Use cruise control.
It holds my speeds almost exactly where I set it.
I even use it to slow down.
Remember, hold the button down and it drops speed in 5 mph increments.

It’s very precise and quick to respond, also very smooth.
Easy peasy.

I assume this will work on a Mavbrid.
I’m an Ecoboost driver
:’P

 

[ScottyC]

The "L" button on your shift dial will be your friend on the downward drives.

 

[Hot Runr Guy]

Here in Colorado Springs when visitors drive down from the summit of Pikes Peak there are checkpoints where the park rangers check the brake temperature. If their brakes are too hot they won’t let you continue until they do.

I did that drive in April, very early in the day, and there was no one at the brake check station. I still made a couple of stops to let things cool and let my blood pressure drop,,,,,,

HRG

 

[FordPrefect]

Use cruise control.
It holds my speeds almost exactly where I set it.
I even use it to slow down.
Remember, hold the button down and it drops speed in 5 mph increments.

It’s very precise and quick to respond, also very smooth.
Easy peasy.

I assume this will work on a Mavbrid.
I’m an Ecoboost driver
:’P

Exactly the same in the hybrid.

 

[Waterick]

Just don't be alarmed when the ICE seems to be racing when the regenerative braking cuts over to regular engine braking. This will happen after a time on extended down hills as the HVB reaches its 80 percent SOC.

 

[Mavster Mechanic]

I did that drive in April, very early in the day, and there was no one at the brake check station. I still made a couple of stops to let things cool and let my blood pressure drop,,,,,,

HRG

Pikes Peak is worst case scenario:

Steep, hairpin turns, low speed limits, long duration.

 

[Mavster Mechanic]

Just don't be alarmed when the ICE seems to be racing when the regenerative braking cuts over to regular engine braking. This will happen after a time on extended down hills as the HVB reaches its 80 percent SOC.

Er.... that's 70% max. SOC.
Which it gets there fast; about 1 mile of regen.

 

[Mavster Mechanic]

I will be taking my 2022 Hybrid up to the mountains in Southern California for the first time this summer and would like to hear any advice about the best way to navigate downhill. Not too worried about going up, just coming down. My Hyundai Palisade has paddles and they worked great in controlling my speed and maneuverability. Unfortunately, as we all know, the Maverick is sans paddle shifting and I'm not sure what to expect with the hybrid's eCVT transmission. I'm not talking about off-roading . . . strictly on the highway and smaller roads.

Any major thoroughfare you will be fine.

Worst is 10 mph to 25 mph.

Under 10 mph, no real engine brake, when battery is full, no regen brake, = friction brake only, but you are going slow enough not to overheat them.

Over 25 mph there is plenty of engine brake. Above 65 mph there is a lot of wind resistance too. Somewhere about 70 to 75 mph you will reach "terminal velocity" where you could coast in N and not gain any more speed, assuming road and traffic allows this high of speed. Assuming it won't allow this terminal speed, you will only need periodic brake tapping to keep it 60 to 70 mph.

The roughest band is 10 mph to 25 mph where you have little wind resistance, no regen on a full battery, and engine brake is ineffective because the rpms are too low. And in this band you will overheat your brake pads with prolonged (multiple minutes) of use.

If I made it sound like there are distinct cutoff speeds, there aren't.

Road and wind conditions infinitely vary so these are ballpark numbers.

 

[HeyBales]

Just be ready for the sound of a very high RPM engine every time you touch the brakes, if indeed steep/long enough.
Unless in Low mode, in which case it will already be maxed out if more brake is needed.

Max regen happens when you get into the pads.
It was very disconcerting to me for the Hill Descent Control (which also automatically applies max regen like Low mode) to be causing the air braking but that wasn't enough to keep the speed.
Pressing the brakes seemed to increase the RPM just enough to be noticeable.

Was not used to the effect of pressing the brakes made the engine speed up.
Not here in flat Kansas, even Ozarks frankly, where the system would use half of that HVB on accel's outta corners, and downhills generally not that long.

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

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