2010 RX450h - Regenerative Braking Issue -- regen braking does not disengage

[CaliforniaSun]

Hello Lexus Owners,

I tried searching for this issue and found a lot of posts about regenerative braking and how it sometimes disengages and causes the car to "jump" forward or switches awkwardly to hydraulic braking. However I wasn't able to find another post about my current issue.

Recently I noticed the average MPG dropped from around 25-28 MPG down to 18-20 MPG and at the same time noticed that the regenerative braking seems to always stay active regardless of pressing on the gas pedal, brake pedal or just coasting. It's not as noticeable at slower speeds around town but whenever driving on the freeway it becomes very evident that the regenerative brakes are engaged even when travelling at 65+ mph. The car never just coasts and the RPM indicator always drops down into the "Charge" area even when going freeway speeds. Almost feels like I'm driving with the parking brake half way down as the car is way more sluggish and slow then it used to be. I've tried turning off ECO mode, used the Sport shifting mode and even popped the car in neutral and still seems like the regen braking system is always active and engaged.

Has anyone encountered a similar situation where the regenerative braking is always engaged and does not release during accelaration or high speed coasting?

 

Thanks,
Ali

[RX400h]

Hello, Ali.

Have you thought about taking your vehicle to either a Toyota (likely less expensive) or Lexus dealership? Even if no one else has had this issue here, I think it would be worth getting it checked out.

[CaliforniaSun]

On 6/22/2022 at 10:05 AM, RX400h said:

Hello, Ali.

Have you thought about taking your vehicle to either a Toyota (likely less expensive) or Lexus dealership? Even if no one else has had this issue here, I think it would be worth getting it checked out.

That's the plan as I have a good Toyota/Lexus mechanic that recently did a 100K service on our 2007 Prius. I'm hoping he can figure it out with some diagnostics but thought I'd post here first in case any else had encountered that issue. Also making sure it wasn't something simple that the wifey (she's the primary driver of the RX450h) may have disabled or turned off or on. For example the other day we learned that you can turn off the automatic tailgate open & close function by pressing a small almost hidden button in the glove box haha 😄  Well a quick search here and I learned something new too and we both had a good laugh about it.

 

I'll share my experience after taking it in to the mechanic. Trying to avoid the dealership but may end up there ultimately if he's not able to get it fixed. In the meantime if anyone has had or heard of this issue please drop a comment or reply. Thanks