How long did it take you to get used to one-pedal driving?

[mnx]

IMO the easy solution to the problem of brake lights on the freeway is to leave more following distance and then only ease off the pedal slightly (<30kW regen).

12,000 miles / 6 months and still getting used to it. I have resisted the urge to turn it down to low. My problem is that I drive at least 75% on the freeway and most of the time it's moving fast, but with heavy traffic, brake lights do come on. When that happens I still instinctively drop the accelerator pedal and move my foot over to cover the brake in case I have to stop fast (usually don't). This, of course, causes the car to essentially "brake" instead of coast. I'm a little worried about what will happen next winter when the roads are slippery.

I find the re-gen quite agreeable on surface streets and non-freeway highways where there's lots of time to modulate the pedal as you drive. That's a lot different than driving 70 - 75 MPH in heavy freeway traffic and having a line of brakes come on ahead of you.

I wish Tesla would implement a speed-sensitive setting for re-gen (and for the steering effort too, for that matter).

 

[barbja]

I wish it was not just one pedal driving, but also 'no pedal staying stopped'. I think that others have alluded to that in other posts here. I love regenerative braking and I don't like having creep turned on. However, I also don't like having to stand on the brake to keep the car stopped. That is a whole lot easier problem for Tesla to solve than creep.

If Tesla implemented this feature you would be singing its praises also because its awesome.

 

[mknox]

IMO the easy solution to the problem of brake lights on the freeway is to leave more following distance and then only ease off the pedal slightly (<30kW regen).

I do try to do that. Where it gets hilarious is when I'm driving my wife's ICE around town, and slowly start lifting my foot off the accelerator to slow down (and it doesn't!). It's quite the sensation! Had that happen a couple of times last winter in the Model S when re-gen was limited due to the cold.

 

[AEdennis]

Having started my EV experience with the BMW Active E, I've been driving a car with even more aggressive regen than either the Model S or Roadster. It took me the first hour of driving to get comfortable and another hour to prefer single pedal driving. I have driven all sorts of other EVs available to the general public in California and found that Tesla makes the EV with the closest to the type of driving that I have grown to love. I prefer to have creep off, so that's one of the things that I've been disappointed in with the Roadster. I'm glad that the Model S allows the driver to choose how to operate the vehicle.

IMO the easy solution to the problem of brake lights on the freeway is to leave more following distance and then only ease off the pedal slightly (<30kW regen).

After 18.5 months of driving single pedal, I've found that I do leave more room between myself and the car in front of me. It allows me to drive single pedal more efficiently. The only downside is in Southern California traffic, many cars cut in front of me... The great thing about the Model S as far as these options is the fact that one has the option to turn it on and off. On a long drive of hypermiling, I am sure one would appreciate the ability to lower the regen to provide the ability to coast without using much energy.

 

[paulkva]

Tap the Tesla symbol top center of your screen, and that brings up a depiction of your car, and it shows when the brake lights come on. After a few views, you should be comfortable knowing that they do come on at appropriate times.

Thanks. I had read that the 5.0 software eliminated this feature on the "about" screen, and I just confirmed that tonight. I poked around a bit, however, and I discovered I can see the brake lights illuminate on the "charging" screen. Maybe I'll go out for a drive later and see if I can access that screen while driving. Any excuse to go out for a drive...

 

[JPP]

My previous car was a Lexus GS450h, so I was used to a 'soft' version of one-pedal driving (less regen). Easy transition. The hard transition (as many of you know) is getting back into an ICE and trying one-pedal driving.

 

[mknox]

The only downside is in Southern California traffic, many cars cut in front of me...

That's not just a SoCal thing. I try to leave at least "2 seconds" to the car in front, which really is not a lot of space and it just seems to be an invitation for cars to cut in to that space. Once I had a guy behind me in the right lane flashing his lights and waiving his hands because I was leaving more than 6" between me and the car in front. Toronto drivers are insane.

 

[neroden]

The novelty/surprise of experiencing regen was already over by the end of the test drive months ago. So when I got the car I knew what to expect, and after maybe 30min of driving, I was completely used to it.

Now, I live to "greenline."

Having just returned from a 1200-mi drive from San Diego to Marin County and back, I've been through all sorts of regen experiences.

Strangest experience: driving downhill on a very narrow 1-lane street in a steep, hilly, curvy neighborhood, at about 10 mph. Regen kicked in immediately so I didn't need to even touch the accelerator or brake. But what was weird was I just got a tiny bit of green on the dial, but the actual regen braking force was very strong, really strong, it was as if I had the brakes on and it was a battle of gravity vs brakes. I'd expected to greenline doing down that little road but didn't get the opportunity to. I suppose full greenlining only happens if you are at high speed (nothing like teleporting from 65mph to 90 to 65 in about 3 seconds when you're in a situation involving troublesome drivers, including slow cars and unpredictable trucks, on a 2-lane freeway, and you decide the best thing to do is instantaneously "get beyond" the situation by stomping on the accelerator then letting go. Voom, the situation is now in the rear view mirror).

That is fun. However, I greenline *daily*. I drive down a road with a 40 mph speed limit, going downhill on a 10% slope, where the speed limit suddenly drops to 30 mph and then arrives at a stop light. 60kw regeneration will kick in every time, and of course I do actually have to use the brakes to avoid rolling downhill at the light.

- - - Updated - - -

I wish it was not just one pedal driving, but also 'no pedal staying stopped'. I think that others have alluded to that in other posts here. I love regenerative braking and I don't like having creep turned on. However, I also don't like having to stand on the brake to keep the car stopped. That is a whole lot easier problem for Tesla to solve than creep.

It's called "hill hold", and it's actually not straightfoward to program.

 

[Roamer]

Took about one minute. Its pretty intuitive.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

I agree with earlier posters that, although it's very intuitive and I felt comfy with it back during my test drive itself last year, mastering it at various speeds/terrain/traffic conditions is an ongoing learning process. I have some really good days and some okay days.

I have this 2 mile stretch from home to work on flat terrain with a series of 8 stop signs spaced roughly a quarter mile apart on average with a speed limit of 35 mph all the way. There are two lanes going each way. All the stops are 4-way and the columns of traffic arriving at the stops from all directions are unpredictable during commute hours. To add to the complexity, I avoid some stretches of the left lanes in both directions thanks to roots of trees planted in the divider forcing their way up and creating some bumpy pavement.

It's a daily mental exercise for me in the morning and evening to do my best Jerry33 impersonation and time my acceleration and regeneration perfectly while moving from one lane to another and covering the stretch in the least duration possible while trying hard not to annoy cars behind me. On a great day, I manage 250-260 Wh/mile in this stretch and on a poor day, 350+ Wh/mile.

 

[gtimbers]

Several blocks got me 80%. It took a day or so to perfect the rate of slow-down. Now I really don't use the brake at all except for a complete stop. What a great feature.

 

[XrstalLens]

While it was only a day or two before I was feeling reasonably comfortable with it (but still undershooting stops quite often), it was a couple of weeks before any passengers stopped feeling the need to carry barf bags with them!

Keeping acceleration and deceleration smooth takes a bit of practice and finesse. However, I was determined to keep regen at normal. Now I can keep it quite smooth and feel like I have lots of control - perhaps even more so than for a stick (certainly much less strenuous...).