Toyota BZ Forum banner

Unable to reactivate Regenerative brakes

12K views 30 replies 16 participants last post by  nachumfrenkel 
#1 ·
Tire Wheel Car Vehicle Automotive tire

This stopped one day, I had to keep putting it on then it just stopped all together

Seeing Regenerative boost temporarily Unavailable See Owners manual

Looked in the owners manual on page 240 and all it really says is to apply the brakes and or that this will not work if this message is displayed.

Anyone have a fix for this or is this defective?
 
See less See more
1
#3 ·
Mine has had this problem for the past two weeks, and it think it likely is reducing efficiency. If you take a look at Subaru Solterra forums, several folks have the same issue with that vehicle as well. I don't think a solution has yet been discovered, and the cause seems to be unknown, since it occurs even when when the battery is at a low state of charge—not just when it's fully or near fully charged.

I wonder if only vehicles with the CATL battery are having this problem..?
 
#4 ·
Mine has had this problem for the past two weeks, and it think it likely is reducing efficiency. If you take a look at Subaru Solterra forums, several folks have the same issue with that vehicle as well. I don't think a solution has yet been discovered, and the cause seems to be unknown, since it occurs even when when the battery is at a low state of charge—not just when it's fully or near fully charged.

I wonder if only vehicles with the CATL battery are having this problem..?
Yeah this used to work at first, then it stopped working and I cannot figure out how to get this working again, the manual is not helpful at all, I cannot find any Toyota support for this so I have made an appointment with the dealership. Lol not a great start, less than a week old.
 
#8 ·
When you say 260 mile mark, do you mean 260 miles driven on a charge? So you were approaching 0% before it engaged?

I get that the boost won't activate if the battery is fully charged, or if the battery is cold, but even after half an hour of driving and <50% charge, I can't get it to activate for more than a couple of minutes.
 
#9 ·
When you say 260 mile mark, do you mean 260 miles driven on a charge? So you were approaching 0% before it engaged?

I get that the boost won't activate if the battery is fully charged, or if the battery is cold, but even after half an hour of driving and <50% charge, I can't get it to activate for more than a couple of minutes.
At full charge it read 302mi, I was unable to activate the 1 pedal mode, as soon as I reached 260mi I was able to engage it. I wont be able to for sure test this as I am planning on using this charge session for about a week before charging it again, I will then do more tests and report back.

I will also keep in mind what you said and watch out for it.
 
#11 ·
Update: When you hard brake or turn corners to hard this gets disabled. I found that if you turn on your EV, then hit the button it stays engaged till either you turn it off or hit the brakes to hard. I found that you can engage it if you are accelerating then you can engage it.
 
#12 ·
OK after about a day, I can honestly say that this feature is rather pointless, I see no advantage in using this. With my hybrid, I could see the regenerative boost working on the batteries, with this I see no improvement, maybe you get 1-2 miles from a full charge, this also may save some brakes but otherwise not worth using. Its too picky and disables at odd times to be of any use so I have decided that I will no longer be activating it.
 
#13 ·
My guess is that this is Toyota being super conservative and not allowing the battery to be "charged" (regen) at low temperatures. We need to get some feedback from someone in a warmer location to see if it is functional at higher temperatures. You didn't mention whether you have FWD or AWD, but I would assume AWD. I bet for someone with FWD in a warmer climate, it works great (as long as you're OK with the creep rather than a full stop).

EVERY post that has anything to do with charging, regen, battery should include information on battery version (FWD or AWD) and temperature.
 
#14 · (Edited)
EVERY post that has anything to do with charging, regen, battery should include information on battery version (FWD or AWD) and temperature.
Agreed!

I'd always understood that regenerative braking was one of the key's to an EV or hybrid's efficiency, at least during around town driving. I just can't help but think that the fact that it doesn't seem to work properly on our vehicles—and usually just throws error messages when activated—might go a long way towards explaining their otherwise inexplicable poor efficiency.

Supposedly, these vehicles are capable of attaining sustained efficiency of 3.7-4.5+ miles/kWh—that's the only way they could possibly achieve their range claims (as per either EPA or WLTP ratings), and explain its best in class MPGe rating (i.e., vs. Ioniq 5, Mach-E, ID.4).

Considering that the BZ4X is also lighter in weight than some of its competition (Mach-E, ID.4 AWD), and has best in class aerodynamics (0.26 drag coefficient), it's low efficiency is similarly confounding. I thought this was the promise of its smaller battery relative to competitors—that it would still be competitive in its class, as far as range, due to its very high efficiency.

If the regeneration boost is this finicky and doesn't seem to stay on, it makes me question whether the standard/non-boosted blended brake pedal regeneration is working properly either, i.e., if there's even minimal recharge occurring with the 'boost' off. You can of course see energy supposedly being added to the battery on the dash display whenever you brake, even with regen boost off, but who knows if its actually occurring.

I think what we're up against is that Toyota wants absolutely minimal battery degradation, which is a noble goal, but that this goal is butting up against the vehicle's actual usability, i.e., as per charging speeds and range.
 
#15 · (Edited)
US AWD, 20 to 40 F

I am in same boat - hardly ever can get regen boost to activate and the few times it has it deactivates within seconds. I would like the extra efficiency, but even moreso want the engine compression effect with AWD traction control when descending mountain passes in winter.

I am really holding out hope that the Toyota engineers can fix this and other issues like displaying SOC in the car with OTA updates ASAP. One doesn't like paying $50K+ for horatory features and unachievable range estimates for a vehicle model that has sold around the world for many months.
 
#16 ·
US AWD, 20 to 40 F

I am in same boat - hardly ever can get region boost to activate and the few times it has it deactivates within seconds. I would like the extra efficiency, but even moreso want the engine compression effect with AWD traction control when descending mountain passes in winter.

I am really holding out hope that the Toyota engineers can fix this and other issues like displaying SOC in the car with OTA updates ASAP. One doesn't like paying $50K+ for horatory features and unachievable range estimates for a vehicle model that has sold around the world for many months.
I think they'll fix it, and if they don't, I would think it would be subject to recall. If you activate a setting that's supposed to slow down the car when you lift your foot and it doesn't, it can turn into a panic situation as you reach for the brake pedal and that can cause an accident. As @B.Wilkins_85 mentioned, too, Toyota really focused on battery degradation. Seems like the sourcing of the 72.8 kWh battery for AWD in NA came late in the process and they seem to be still testing it.
 
#18 ·
I’m posting this, even though my vehicle is an AWD Solterra. This is just one more data point to go on the graph.

In my case, so far at least, S-Pedal has worked consistently 100% of the time…and I engage it each time I drive the vehicle. Granted, I only have a few hundred miles on the car. The outside temps in SC where I live have been ranging from freezing at night to the low 50-60’s range. Also, I have the charge maximum set to 80%, and have done minimal highway driving… 98% of my experience so far has been in-town driving.

I prefer the S-Pedal rather than using the steering wheel paddles simply due to its “set and forget” application.
 
#20 ·
I have AWD model and I have been using for city driving and the regeneration booster rarely disengages. It does sometimes going down steeper hills. It is a 'drive easy' mode and if you stick with that it may disengage less. Currently, in Victoria, BC with temps around 0 Celsius, it does not operate when lane/snow symbol displayed on Multi Informational Display. Regeneration booster use should be a great brake saver.
 
#23 ·
hi guys Abhinash from Vancouver here. 2023 Bz4X AWD model I've noticed that too the regen mode keeps disengaging itself while driving now that you mentioned it, it's been sub-zero temperatures here in BC for the past few days. I used to engage it ( regen switch ) in summer time and it stayed on the whole trip. Not sure if that helps. I'll keep monitoring it in the coming summertime and report back.
 
#25 · (Edited)
2023 Solterra in Colorado here, got 8,100 miles already. S pedal works 100% of the time when above 50 degrees F, around 48F i can get it working again by doing 10 minutes of medium-hard acceleration.

--anytime below 48F, S pedal will not activate no matter what. you will get the S Pedal not available message, just like when battery is above 90 or 95% charge.

--anytime below 20ish F, Light(gental) Regen will not activate no matter what. (light Regen meaning the 4 bars that's Left side paddle activated) you will get the other message Low Temp Regen unavailable, use brake pedal to brake.
 
#26 ·
2023 Solterra in Colorado here, got 8,100 miles already. S pedal works 100% of the time when above 50 degrees F, around 48F i can get it back by about 10 minutes of medium-hard acceleration in combination of outside temp increasing slightly.

--anytime below 48F, S pedal will not activate no matter what. you will get the S Pedal not available message, just like when battery is above 90 or 95% charge.

--anytime below 20ish F, light Regen will not activate no matter what. (light Regen meaning the 4 bars that's Left side paddle activated) you will get the other message Low Temp Regen unavailable, use brake pedal to brake.

Is there any way to turn this message off? It keeps popping back up after I hit the back button to dismiss it. It's extremely annoying. I would think a one-time notification would be good enough.
 
#28 ·
A major advantage of electric propulsion is the inherent ability of electric units to switch roles of generation or propulsion. Regeneration braking, aka one pedal braking, is a failure in the BZ4X.
My first BEV was a 2017 Bolt and I had over 5 years experience with it in Montana where there is cold weather, and steep hills. Bolt regen worked all the time, no messages, no drop outs, no problems and significant miles from regeneration.

It is difficult for me to understand how poorly Toyota has utilized regen. I am unable to recommend purchase of the BZ4X because of this. And yes, the meaningless "no regeneration" message drives me crazy
 
#29 ·
I use it every day and it works perfectly. I wish I could set it as a driver setting so I don’t have to switch in on every time I start the car. The only time it doesn’t work is when the battery is fully charged. Which makes sense. My Mitsubishi PHEW was the same. It’s down to that it has nowhere to put the power generated.
 
Top