I hate it when someone who doesn't have the vehicle answers the question, but honestly, I can answer both.
A. You can never use B if you don't want to. The NAH works by drive by wire, which means your shifter doesn't actually do anything but send a request to the PCM that you'd like to shift. N, D, and B are all physically the same, it's just a software change that determines how the vehicle operates. B is exactly the same as D, but anytime you let off the accelerator, automatic light braking/regen occurs. When coupled with the brakes, you can find your stopping "power" is increased. Many drivers shift to B when they know they'll be stopping up ahead, to increase the regen that they recapture at a stop, and because after a while, they turn into lazy brakers.
There's an old saying," D to drive, B to brake", but it isn't really necessary to do, but is a technique that some drivers use religiously. You can do this at any time and at any speed. The TCH salesman was wrong. (Which is no surprise to most people here.) You can also use it to slow yourself if traffic ahead is slowing without touching the brakes where you need to lose a slight amount of speed for just a few moments, then shift back to D to resume cruising or accelerating. I myself shift often between D and B.
On a somewhat related note, when you shift into N, the state of the vehicle will remain so. So, if the ICE is off, shift into N, it will stay off. This is useful during the winter (assuming you have a cold winter), when you want the ICE to stay off, you can pop it into N, and it will stay off, no need to worry about the ICE popping on to reheat things until you're ready to drive away, be it from a stoplight or a Drive through window.
B. Yes and No. Light braking only uses regenerative braking above 7-10 miles per hour (The actual MPH will vary by model, so I'm not sure of the NAH's lower limit), below that speed, it's actual physical braking. Above that speed, the only time you'll use the physical brakes is when you slam suddenly or hard on them, the rest of the time, it's regen. This leads to the "problem" that after rainstorms or after long periods of non-use, the brakes will suddenly get grabby. They'll actually develop a layer of grime on them, which combined with the wetness, cause them to get very grabby when they're used. You can get rid of this by braking often, which will clean the brakes and dry them, shifting into N, which will disengage the regen braking and use friction braking, stopping, and allowing that single stop from speed to clean them, or just wait and they'll eventually clean themselves bit by bit at a time.
Welcome to GH, and
Enjoy your NAH!
Couple Driving Style Questions
