Coasting in Neutral

[LuisV]

My friend lets me borrow his Roadster when he is out of town. We live in an area with lots of rolling hills and long, steep down hill sections of road. When driving down these hills it seems more efficient to coast in Neutral down the hill and much of the way up the next hill. This seems more efficient than using power down hill (regen slows the Tesla too much) and power up the entire next hill.
What do experienced Tesla drivers think? Does Tesla recommend against this type of driving?

 

[chronopublish]

I've observed that if I'm going down a hill, even if I am still on the accelerator the car can still regen, just slower. So if the car is slowing too much to allow for coasting, I think the most efficient thing to do is to use the accelerator to keep your speed where you want it.

 

[mpt]

Coasting and building speed then converting that back to extra hill climbing as you decelerate up the other side is more efficient than storing power in the batteries... as long as the speed limit accomodates your energy storage strategy!

You can do that in neutral or, adjust the accelerator pedel to affect the same balance. The later gives you quicker access to regen braking if you suddenly need it though. I've coasted along a gentle downhill slope only to have someone pull out in front forcing me to hit the waste-brake.

 

[Tdave]

I remember a previous posting that used some math to calculate the speed above which you'd be better to use regen than allow a faster speed. If you go too fast down the hill, you're wasting more energy due to the drag of wind resistance than the regen you're foregoing. So you should hold at that speed using regen rather than allow yourself to gain more speed. I don't remember what that speed was, though, maybe 60 mph or 70 mph, something in that range. Perhaps someone can find that post or redo those calculations.