Brake Guilt

[brianman]

Anybody else have brake guilt?

Normal, conservative driving means you shouldn't have to use the brakes at all. Just regen to slow down and stop.

I however, can't resist driving a tad faster, and therefore find myself having to use the brakes more often. Then I feel waves of guilt for having to use the brakes, because that means I was driving too fast and not being energy conscious.

The other day I had to drive our ICE, and I felt even more guilty using the brakes as I envisioned all of this kinetic energy that was painfully produced by burning gasoline, being wasted away on my brake pads.

So much guilt. Will need to bring this up with my therapist.

One of the reasons I bought the Perf was because I'm choosing to play the "miser efficiency" game in my daily driving. As long as I'm well within the available range, no need to skimp to save pennies on electricity.

For those that don't feel this way...

Keep in mind that you should periodically use the brakes a little to make sure they're functioning properly when you need them. So let that be your excuse if you like, dave.

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My breaks squeal intermittently. brianman ... told me to apply the breaks HARD a couple of times from, say, 60, (when there's no one following you preferably ) I did that and it seems to have cleared, as he put it, gunk from the break linings?

I never said the last part. But yes, you do need to wear in the fresh brakes on the S a bit. Daily driving doesn't necessarily do it because the one-pedal driving is so lovely.

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I practice what I call asymmetric hypermiling. Using the friction brakes is a last resort, but I'll use the go pedal all the way, every day, any chance I get.

Though I still have yet to have the mythical friction-brake-less commute.

Unless your stop lights are at the top of a hill, brakes are pretty much required for < 4mph in the Model S. At least with the firmware mine has (4.2/...42).

 

[Raven5000]

I feel that i have perfecting regen braking. I rarely use my brake so they squeak all the time. Learning how to let of the throttle smoothly is wat im working on. I don't use full regen i pump it, hard to explain. But I feel that I come up to stop signs at the same speed as I use but don't have to use my brakes. I don't do this for the mileage I have just always been a no brakes coaster kind of guy. I wish we could adjust regen to get more stopping power.

 

[jerry33]

I do have brake guilt. But it's too often unavoidable. Why does regen shut down below 5 mph? I

There is very little energy to be recaptured at that low a speed. Also it ensures you use the friction brakes at least enough to keep the calipers from freezing up.

 

[Robert.Boston]

mine squeak because I rarely stop super hard....but when I play really hard and slam on the brakes they don't squeak for a while after

Brake squeaking and remedies are discussed over here, please: Squeaking Brakes