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To me a manual is all about engine braking. You just have to use the brake pedal less. I haven't driven an electric vehicle before, but I imagine they could d

by femto 4y ago

To me a manual is all about engine braking. You just have to use the brake pedal less. I haven't driven an electric vehicle before, but I imagine they could deliver a similar experience if the regeneration was suitably programmed? Can an EV driver comment on whether they offer a similar engine braking experience to a manual?

eterevsky 4y ago
Aren't all hybrids and EVs doing regenerative breaking when you are pressing on the breaking pedal? To answer your question, Tesla by default starts breaking a little bit when you take your foot off the accelerator pedal, as if you were driving in a slightly lower gear. This behavior is configurable in settings.
sgt101 4y ago
I hardly ever use the break on my Tesla. You just take your foot off and it goes to the speed you want.
ecopoesis 4y ago
Most EVs have one pedal mode: lift your foot off the accelerator and the car rapidly decelerates to a stop using regenerative breaking. My BMW has a neat adaptive driving mode: because the motors don’t use permanent magnets, lifting off would normally result in coasting. When adaptive driving is on, the car uses its radar to figure out how much regeneration (and if necessary friction) braking to apply so you stop just short of the car in front of you, all without applying the brake. The same system is also used to dampen acceleration when there are cars in front of you. It sounds like madness, and is very strange the first few times you use it, but ends up making driving more pleasant.
neallindsay 4y ago
As you guessed, EVs primarily use regeneration to brake. Most newer EV models give you a "blended" brake pedal where it will use regen exclusively if you brake softly but it will also apply the traditional wheel brakes if you brake hard. Once you get used to the idea of regen it's weird to think that traditional combustion cars just throw away all that energy as heat in the brakes and/or engine.

by femto 4y ago

eterevsky 4y ago

Aren't all hybrids and EVs doing regenerative breaking when you are pressing on the breaking pedal? To answer your question, Tesla by default starts breaking a little bit when you take your foot off the accelerator pedal, as if you were driving in a slightly lower gear. This behavior is configurable in settings.

sgt101 4y ago

I hardly ever use the break on my Tesla. You just take your foot off and it goes to the speed you want.

ecopoesis 4y ago

Most EVs have one pedal mode: lift your foot off the accelerator and the car rapidly decelerates to a stop using regenerative breaking. My BMW has a neat adaptive driving mode: because the motors don’t use permanent magnets, lifting off would normally result in coasting. When adaptive driving is on, the car uses its radar to figure out how much regeneration (and if necessary friction) braking to apply so you stop just short of the car in front of you, all without applying the brake. The same system is also used to dampen acceleration when there are cars in front of you. It sounds like madness, and is very strange the first few times you use it, but ends up making driving more pleasant.

neallindsay 4y ago

As you guessed, EVs primarily use regeneration to brake. Most newer EV models give you a "blended" brake pedal where it will use regen exclusively if you brake softly but it will also apply the traditional wheel brakes if you brake hard. Once you get used to the idea of regen it's weird to think that traditional combustion cars just throw away all that energy as heat in the brakes and/or engine.