Regen. Controller worth its price?

[martinko]

Could anybody comment on, if the "Regen Controller" is worth the plus of 40$?
I do not think that I would need the load-on-brake feature, but maybe if controlling speed gets "smoother", as mentioned, could be nice.

Martin.

[OneEye]

Generally it won't be worth it.  Most of the energy savings do not come from the regenerative braking, but from a more conservative acceleration and speed profile. 

That said, if you prefer slow acceleration and a slightly lower speed profile, go for it.

[martinko]

Generally it won't be worth it.  Most of the energy savings do not come from the regenerative braking, but from a more conservative acceleration and speed profile. 

Thx, this supports what I thought.

As for regenative braking: This feature will require an extra "brake handle", to tell the motor that it should work as an electric brake, work as a generator now, doesn't ist?

Or will the regen braking always take place when I move the speed throttle down to zero-position? If the latter is the case, that would mean I cannot simply ride my bike by pedaling, without having to pedal an extra portion for the battery reload?

[caradec]

Hello, Glad to see that the forum seems to be active again.
I have bought 2 regen controllers last year, and was very disappointed.
With them, it is not possible to ride without using the throttle, and mainly at full power, because they brake a lot : I hardly reached 10 mph on a 15 % downhill without throttle.
Average speed was also a bit lower. And then, I am not far to suppose that they were responsible of frying my hall sensors (three times !), because the motor was getting very hot.
Definitly disappointed, I ended by removing the regen controller and the hall sensors, and I now use a sensorless controller. But I have spent more than $250, and I feel like the torque as decreased.

[joe]

Have just received my "kit" and I went for the one with the Regen.Controller. After reading this thread I´m a little afraid I went for the wrong kit.
What happens if I just don't connect "the breaks" to the controller, will it still make it harder for me to paddle in comparesion to the "no regen.controller kit" ?

/J

[OneEye]

The regenerative braking doesn't rely on you pulling on the brake levers.  Any time the back-EMF from the motor (which is based on rpm's) is higher than the current throttle position, it will try to channel energy back into the battery pack, so you will feel some drag.  In order to coast you need to keep the throttle in about the same position it would be if you were travelling that speed under constant power.  Relaxing the throttle a little from that position will provide a small amount of braking/drag, advancing the throttle slightly will provide a small amount of power