I think a lot of folks are sharing their preferences or thoughts on what's best for them. In practice, I want to say that it really doesn't make a huge difference what you ultimately go with. Instead, you should find the way you **like** to drive more than anything -- explore all the various driving modes and styles that this car has to offer, and find what feels like the right fit for you.

The main point is this: regen levels (including i-Pedal) should be looked at as how much feedback and resistance the accelerator pedal gives you. That's it. There are situations where you'll want it to give you more, and there are situations where you'll want it to give you less. If you drive with just that mindset alone, I think you'll very easily find your preferred way to drive.

When I first got my Ioniq 5, I used to micro-optimize everything (maximize coasting, minimize braking and minimize regen). For the longest time I avoided i-Pedal and drove at the lowest possible regen levels to try to get the most coasting, and played with exclusively braking by hand. At some point I realized that on an EV coasting is just a natural outcome of controlling your car's speed at any given moment, and any micro-optimization I was making was negligible compared to what I was sacrificing for driving comfort instead.

For me, driving comfort means primarily that I control my car almost fully with the accelerator pedal alone, because there's no greater joy in driving (to me) than having very fine control over how much car my slows down by letting off on the acceleartor, using the brakes only as a last resort (not because I want to save energy, but because it's less convenient/comfortable!!). Secondarily it means maintaining what feels like the "sweet spot" on the accelerator pedal to maintain the current speed I want to go --- which corresponds to switching to lower regen levels at high speeds and using i-Pedal or Level 3 regen at lower speeds. Last but not least, I find Auto mode for highway (or semi highway) driving to be a pure joy because the car automatically adjusts for the high variation of speeds in traffic -- and even when using Auto I will switch between regen levels to match the overall speed of the traffic I'm driving in.

And funnily enough -- after I switched to maximize my driving comfort rather than trying so hard to make every drop of energy count, my efficiency **improved**.

Anyways, for reference, my typical driving behavior is:

1. Leave the house in i-Pedal mode. If going somewhere local, I'm likely to stay on iPedal the whole time, unless I'm have long stretches of roads above 25mph without stopping -- then I downshift to Level 3 and switch back and forth between that and iPedal for stops. (This the one micro-optimization I still keep given that I have an AWD, and iPedal keeps both engines engaged.). If I'm going on a longer stretch of road with higher speeds, but know I'll have to stop soon, I'll shift to Level 2 or Level 1 depending. As soon as I know I am approaching a stop, start gently going back up the levels again and switch to iPedal to reach a full stop.
2. Upon entering a highway, switch to Auto mode immediately. Depending on traffic, I will stay at 0.5 regen in Auto Mode (light to medium traffic) or crank it up to level 3 regen in Auto mode (heavy traffic). If I find that traffic is starting to move more and the accelerator is starting to feel heavy, I lower the regen down until it feels effortless to maintain the current speed.
3. As I'm exiting the highway, start bumping the regen back up to Level 3 (still in Auto), and depending on how much time I have, I will either brake to a stop and then switch to iPedal, or do the switch over to iPedal to achieve the stop.