When driving around town, I use "L" to achieve ICE shutdown without having to tap dance on the brake pedal. It seems to me to be
easier to keep the car in EV from a stop and while cruising while in "L"...
But is this counter productive in some manner? I.E. am I using extra re-gen while running in EV whilst in "L"...

I'm talking about old time small town city streets, block by block, where the speed limit is 25. When I have a more open thouroughfare with a higher speed limit, I run it to 40 in D, take foot off, hit "L", wait till the tach bumps, then hit "N" or "D" until it's time to slow the last little bit for the next stop sign.

MM

 

6 of one half a dozen of the other really....

I like to coast more once I am already at speed because braking wastes the energy you use to get the vehicle up to speed even with regen. It is better to let your kinetic energy carry you along. That said, alot of drivers who use L regularly simply keep light pressure on the accelerator to coast and prevent regen from slowing them down too soon. My preference is to drive in D and shift to L when I want to slow down. You just have to decide whether you prefer to downshift or to keep light pressure on the acc. to coast.

As for "using extra regen in EV"....the answer is no, the system can't/doesn't recharge while at the same time discharging (driving the motors). It only does one at a time. As long as you are using the HV battery to propel the vehicle forward, the regen system will not be slowing you down or "dragging" to charge the battery.