Footage of out-of-control Tesla flying into Greater Columbus Convention Center

[smilr]

@VeronicaConnor

With both of those, you can stop the car dead on regeneration alone, which they call “one pedal driving”. You basically never touch the brakes except in a panic stop.

I would advocate for using the conventional foot brake on a regular basis, even if you do rely mainly on regenerative braking. During a panic stop is exactly the wrong time to discover that your brakes aren’t working at 100%.

[SteveT]

And one more bullet point - older driver.

[hecep]

Action movie SFX team members… take note.

[jgs]

@VeronicaConnor mildly overstates – unless you’re in the habit of running red lights, in my experience it would be impossible to avoid using the brakes occasionally in normal driving. Often you can plan for the relatively chill deceleration regenerative braking gives you, as when approaching a stop sign. But sometimes you just can’t, as when a light changes or the driver ahead of you brakes.

It isn’t really a problem.

[anon94804983]

That’s fucked up.

It doesn’t explain the majority of such crashes, which involve folks driving conventional vehicles.

[anon72357663]

@VeronicaConnor

Like the Chevy Bolt can crank up the regeneration and has a regen paddle on the steering wheel. With both of those, you can stop the car dead on regeneration alone, which they call “one pedal driving”. You basically never touch the brakes except in a panic stop. It’s awesome once you’re used to it. You won’t want to drive any other way.

This is neat, but not optimally efficient. My car has drive modes where regeneration is increased/decreased based on the mode, and one of the effects of high regeneration is that you have to have the pedal exactly at the right point for the speed that you’re at. That is, too much pressure and you’re accelerating. Too little pressure and you’re regenerating kinetic energy at heavy losses. Lower regen effectively increases the hysteresis of that loop, so being off a little on your foot pressure isn’t as costly.

This coming from someone who her spent her whole life until that point driving with three pedals, frequently in cars without synchros in the transmission, even. “Synchros? Such luxury!” I would have said.

Mad props. I’ve been driving my first manual for the last 10+ years, and while the clutch has held out admirably I’m 100% a granny shifter. I’ve tried double-clutching, but I’ve never quite gotten used to it. Not with any regularity of result or speed of implementation.

[phuzz]

@smilr

I would advocate for using the conventional foot brake on a regular basis, even if you do rely mainly on regenerative braking.

I have a friend who owns a Tesla and he’s complained to me before that because he rarely touches his brakes, they tend to rust up more than a conventional car, so the first time he does need them, they don’t work very well.

[VeronicaConnor]

I don’t overstate. I drove a Bolt for three years and used the brakes maybe once a week, not counting putting my foot on it at lights to hold the car still. Note my use of the word “basically”.

@smilr

I would advocate for using the conventional foot brake on a regular basis, even if you do rely mainly on regenerative braking

I drove endurance race cars for ten years. You don’t need to advocate mansplain anything about driving to me, thanks.

[anothernewbbaccount]

@ephoph

Teslas are built like bricks.

Yeah - the fit and finish is so random no two are exactly alike, just like bricks

[jgs]

@VeronicaConnor

I don’t overstate. I drove a Bolt for three years and used the brakes maybe once a week, not counting putting my foot on it at lights to hold the car still. Note my use of the word “basically”.

I stand corrected! Sounds like the Bolt’s regen is considerably heavier than Tesla’s, at least when you use the paddles – or do they also blend in friction brakes at times, the way newer Teslas (seem to?) do? My experience other than occasional test drives is only in Teslas (both older and newer).

@anothernewbbaccount

Yeah - the fit and finish is so random no two are exactly alike, just like bricks

/yawn

[spetrovits]

Yeah, I took Google Street View from 315 all the way to the side of the convention center. Given everything on that route, especially the half-mile section of Vine he went through, if he really did do the whole thing at 70MPH+ because of a brake failure on 315, it’s a miracle the convention center was the first thing he hit. Seems fishy.

[VeronicaConnor]

The Bolt has two driving modes (normal and “low”). The “low” mode is heavier regeneration. The regen paddle on the steering wheel then adds considerably to that. In Low mode with the paddle, it brakes with about the same force as normal brake usage of a non-aggressive driver. It’s all regeneration, no brake pads at all. Luckily it is smart enough to engage the brake lights when you do this because it’s easily strong enough braking to be rear-ended otherwise

The one exception is right after the battery is fully charged. It regenerates a lot less because there’s nowhere for the current to go, so the combo of Low + paddle is way less effective. This caught me off guard a few times before I figured out what was happening. For the first couple miles after a fresh charge, you need to use some brake pedal, like a chump.

Calling the driving mode “low” is weird because that makes it sound like a transmission gear (which it isn’t) or like a mode you shouldn’t use all the time (you should). The default “normal” mode should be called “make newbies used to automatic transmissions feel comfortable”, but I guess that doesn’t fit on the button.

[jgs]

@VeronicaConnor

The one exception is right after the battery is fully charged. It regenerates a lot less because there’s nowhere for the current to go,

Yeah, Teslas do the same of course. I suppose one COULD try to always provide the same experience by automatically blending in brakes but I bet it wouldn’t work well — kind of an uncanny valley but for braking. When Teslas have limited regen (for whatever reason, but basically high state of charge or low pack temp) they post a warning on the display… but it still feels weird.

[VeronicaConnor]

@jgs

they post a warning on the display

That’s a nice feature. On the Bolt it just slows down way less than you expected, which can be very alarming when you’re used to the one pedal mode and perhaps you’re following a little closer to the car in front than you know you should be.

[csilvest]

@Alvin_Goodman

The gas/brake mix up is something I’ll never understand. One makes you go, the other makes you stop. They are in different spots and feel different to the foot.

It’s possible to get into a positive feedback loop if you think you’re pressing on the brake but are really pressing the go pedal. So you press harder to get more braking, but this just makes more “go”.

See also: (Audi uncontroller acceleration)

Apropos about nothing… does anyone else write a few sentences or even paragraphs in reply, then do some self-fact-checking on the Wikipedia? After a few minutes of corrections and additions to their post, back & forthing tabs, maybe even going split-screen for easy xreferencing, post on the left, Wikipedia to the right…

And then just link to the Wikipedia article.

[csilvest]

@jgs

They also have a goofy “creep” feature you can turn on if you really love the old-skool feel of absentmindedly edging out into the intersection while waiting at a red light.

Does this allow you to stop 3m back from the car ahead of you and the Telsa will creep forward a foot every ~10 seconds?

Or does the Tesla go forward and backward, essentially staying place? Like bumping the clutch?

@jgs

Again, they default it off.

Well that’s good! Who comes up with these ideas for fast-moving, high performance multi-tonne bricks of Lithium?

[David_Durkee]

You make this keeping the right pressure on the accelerator sound hard, but it’s not.

[VeronicaConnor]

@anon72357663

This is neat, but not optimally efficient. My car has drive modes where regeneration is increased/decreased based on the mode, and one of the effects of high regeneration is that you have to have the pedal exactly at the right point for the speed that you’re at. That is, too much pressure and you’re accelerating. Too little pressure and you’re regenerating kinetic energy at heavy losses. Lower regen effectively increases the hysteresis of that loop, so being off a little on your foot pressure isn’t as costly.

I think this is down to how it’s tuned. I never felt this to be an issue in the Bolt. I imagine they designed some coasting and hysteresis into it to make it less jumpy and easier to drive. I drove to work and back in heavy traffic for three years (2 hours a day of my life I will never get back, ugh) and the one-pedal mode was a life saver for me.