I think it depends. In my 03, if I hold the brake lightly enough, I'll max out the regen without actually engaging the brakes. Whether you can do that or not depends on the grade of the hill. If the hill is too shallow, you'll slow down. If you hold the gas down slightly too, you'll turn the regen off so you can coast. I do that a lot too. I basically want to coast as much as I can - I just use the regen to check my speed down the hill so I don't go way over the limit.

I can't regen in Neutral in my 03. However, auto-stop works.

*** Retired after 65,000 outstanding miles ***