Decorative...hahaha...
For petrol, the paddle shift manual gear shift is really decorative for casual driver. s
Not the hybrid, its the regenerative brake paddle that is actually quite useful for daily driving once you get the hang of it.
Think of it like activating 3 levels of engine braking. 1 bar, minor, 2 bar mid and 3rd bar full engine braking like what you do with manual gear when going downhills.
Except besides engine braking (that in reality, in layman term, are using the internal traction motor to pull back the wheel rotation and charge the battery instead of using the brake pad eating onto the disc brake plate to slow down the wheel), it's main purpose is actually to exponentially increase the battery regeneration rate during its activation.
Note that regen braking is not using the disc brake plate/brake pad (I think) thus will never lock the wheel and although can pull back the car during high speed braking, it will not work as good as hard disc brake for emergency braking. It is meant for more gradual slow down. Combining both the regen braking and leg brake during emergency braking is way more effective to quickly slow down and stop the car than just leg brake alone if you can react fast enuf on pressing the regen paddle.
I usually used it during higher speed cornering where I want to slow down a bit for cornering and instead of using leg brake, I used this to slow down the car for more control over cornering, if still too fast, shift slowly to 2-3 bars. Once you get to the slower speed you want, shift the other paddle bar to release the levels, slowly back from 3 to 1 bar to release the strong engine braking affect to pick up speed. If need more immediate braking, then only use leg brake.
I also use it to slow down gradually when passing tolls, normally for petrol, we let go of fuel accelerator, let it slide, then nearing the toll, gradually press leg brake.
For paddle shift, same, let go for petrol, if still too fast, instead of pressing brake, I shifted the paddle for engine braking gradually increasing the levels, I only use brake if I still go too fast/too near or going for almost full stop near toll booth.
I also use it a bit during slow moving traffic without using leg brake paddle to slow down the car, then release the regen (upshift using other paddle), accelerate, then regen to slow down, repeat.
This will allow brake pad to last longer, increase battery regen rate and allow more control especially when cornering. The feel is just EXACTLY like engine braking without wheel braking.
I practically never use B mode on gear box coz I'm not running in hilly areas. While B mode increase regen rate, it also engine brake the car ALL THE TIME thus slowing the down car and require more acceleration. It is useful tho if you are in a constant downhill drive but not very good for uphill drive coz need to tekan accelerator WAY more than necessary due to the ëngine braking" effect.
Only my 2 cents based on my experience, others' opinion might differ.
Agree with u bro. Using regen braking will be convenient during slowing down on corners or gadually slow your cars.
Its just in the B gear, i didnt see any indication on the engine braking all the time. I just cant feel any difference nor notice the recharging indicator showing anything. Based on what i know, the brakng will straight happen only when u release the accelerator. And the level of braking can be adjusted as well using the regen paddle.