3 ms·

I think the implicit question is "can an OTA somehow improve braking performance - why isn't it optimal already?" not "do Tesla OTAs change other aspects of the

• Nasrudith 8y ago
  Electric motors and generators are essentially the same thing run in different directions. Run electricity through a motor and it generates motion while putting load on the power. Move a generator and it creates resistance as it extracts electricity. This also answers both how they can change it and why it is not already optimal. Actively using the motors to break causes it to use energy instead of recovering it. Hybrid drivers have long known to break gradually when possible to maximize battery recharge. It is possible they had an electric neophyte as a test driver. Fair enough if they were supposed to test from the perspective of someone new to hybrids and electric cars trying a Tesla as their first.
  • mshook 8y ago
    Not sure if you read the article but what they were testing is pretty much emergency braking from 60mph to full stop. So the goal is not regenerate the battery (and it doesn't matter if the driver was "an electric neophyte"), it's to brake hard and to repeat the process a couple of times to see if you get brake fade. From the article: Our testers get a car up to 60 mph, then slam on the brakes until the car comes to a stop. They repeat this multiple times to ensure consistent results. Between each test, the vehicle is driven approximately a mile to cool the brakes and make sure they don’t overheat.
    • Nasrudith 8y ago
      Whoops. My mistake for giving into the temptation to segue after my explanation of what I did know.
  • detaro 8y ago
    What does "gradually braking to optimize battery recharge" have to do with an emergency stop?