"No Brake" Days

[Mach Y]

How often are you able to drive your car all day without ever touching the brake pedal?

I'm finding this to be not too difficult to do ... it does require you to moderate your speed in heavier traffic and plan your stops well ahead, which has the positive side effect of forcing you to be a more cautious (safer?) driver.

So here's a poll question for you ...

 

[Mike_TV]

Not sure but this is why Tesla brake pads will get 100,000 miles out of them before they need to be replaced.

 

[Ames]

It's hard not to use the brakes when you have Ludicrous mode...

 

[LevelHeaded]

Better question is how often you should use the brakes to keep them healthy

 

[Puma2020]

I agree with LevelHeaded that you probably should use them initially every couple of days.
Most days I can easily do 1 pedal driving. I have grown accustomed to standard regen and now will use the accelerator pedal to "coast" up to a stop. I started a game where how long can I keep the car in regen and still make forward progress.
The TACC actually slows down much later than what I am used to. It knows a stop sign or light is ahead but keeps the set speed until it has to slow down significantly. This rush up "feature" and the fact that it freaks out at crosswalks, keeps me from using TACC as much as I used cruise on my other cars.

 

[MY-Y]

Regen braking doesn't work at low speeds, so the car must use the friction brakes for the last 5 MPH or so. I suppose they could power the motor backwards for the low speed stops, but why waste the energy?

If the car does indeed engage the friction brakes at each full stop, I figure I don't need to exercise them myself.

 

[Mach Y]

I was reminded of the obvious need to push the brake pedal in order to disengage Park ... but I cannot edit my first post so the wording stays as-is ...

Regarding regen at low speeds ... forgetting about regenerative charging for a minute, doesn't dynamic braking (e.g. shorting out the circuit) stop an electric motor completely? I know there isn't much force at those low speeds, but the gearbox is 9:1 so the motor is still spinning at a reasonable speed ... so I would think the motor can bring the car to a complete standstill without requiring the friction brake. From the clicks it sounds like the brake is only applied when I reach 0 mph (and have my foot completely off the accelerator).

I am also curious if the regen braking force is applied differently based on how quickly you ease off the pedal, not just positional.

 

[db93]

I make a point of using the brakes at least once every drive
Sounds so odd to say that

 

[Rshephorse]

You don't need to make a point to use the brakes ever... the brakes engage wtih 'hold' mode and there is a function to automatically 'scrub' the brakes- very lightly apply them automatically to keep discs clean.

 

[db93]

You don't need to make a point to use the brakes ever... the brakes engage wtih 'hold' mode and there is a function to automatically 'scrub' the brakes- very lightly apply them automatically to keep discs clean.

Sometimes I just like to stop faster

 

[im4uttx]

Sometimes I just like to stop faster

...just use TACC and allow the car to come up to traffic at a stop light at 55+mph...it will stop plenty fast without needing to touch the brakes...

 

[db93]

...just use TACC and allow the car to come up to traffic at a stop light at 55+mph...it will stop plenty fast without needing to touch the brakes...

I also think it's a good idea to be familiar with the braking system in a car, even if not needed most of the time

 

[RBB123]

I love being able to drive without touching the brakes on most trips. It is the best unexpected driving benefit in my new MY. I understood the concept of the regen but never expected it to be so useful.

 

[theganjaguru]

If you said 0 it’s not true. Technically everyone has to use their brakes x1 as it’s required to put the car into gear when you initially enter.

 

[HeyEph]

You don't need to make a point to use the brakes ever... the brakes engage wtih 'hold' mode and there is a function to automatically 'scrub' the brakes- very lightly apply them automatically to keep discs clean.

Automatic scrub? Huh?

 

[MY2Ski]

I also appreciate the one pedal driving and regen of the Y and many days do not use the brakes, except when shifting into D or P. I use the State Farm "drive safe and save" monitor and have noticed that many times when I have not used the brakes at all it still scolds me for braking too hard. Of course it does not like the Y acceleration either but that is just too much fun. Still have a hard time getting scolded for using regen.

 

[LevelHeaded]

there is a function to automatically 'scrub' the brakes- very lightly apply them automatically to keep discs clean

I’d love it if you could identify your source for this. In my experience it’s not true. When I lived in Seattle my M3 brake discs consistently had visible rust from the rain unless I remembered to apply the brakes myself to clear them off.

Also, the hold function engages when the wheel is basically no longer rotating. This will not do enough to keep the brakes in good working order.

 

[VaxAce]

the Tesla is like driving in a video game -- I challenge myself not to use the brake -- HOWEVER -- you should us ether brake daily and keep the rust out and eventual binding...

 

[Rshephorse]

Automatic scrub? Huh?

Yup, somewhere in the owners manual it talks about the car occasionally applying a trace amount of braking, bringing the pads in contact with the discs to keep them conditioned for stopping. Otherwise the discs would rust and get crudded up and function really poorly when you finally bring them into use. My guess is that they do this knowing that many drivers will not use the brakes enough to do that naturally.

 

[Johnny Vector]

Yup, somewhere in the owners manual it talks about the car occasionally applying a trace amount of braking, bringing the pads in contact with the discs to keep them conditioned for stopping. Otherwise the discs would rust and get crudded up and function really poorly when you finally bring them into use. My guess is that they do this knowing that many drivers will not use the brakes enough to do that naturally.

That's only during wet weather.

Model Y is equipped with brake disc wiping, which automatically assists in maintaining brake responsiveness in cold and wet weather conditions. When such conditions are detected, brake disc wiping repeatedly applies an imperceptible amount of brake force to clear away water on the brake disc surface. This ensures your brakes are responsive even during poor weather conditions.​

So if it doesn't rain much where you're driving, this may not ever happen.

I can think of two reasons that the brakes need to be operated occasionally:

1. Activate the calipers to keep them from freezing up. This is fairly important, and happens every time you press the brake pedal, e.g. to shift into D or R.
2. Clean the rust off the rotors (and gunk off the pads too, maybe?). I don't know how important this is, but it requires pressing the brake pedal while the car is moving. I rarely do this, myself, but probably even once a week is sufficient. This is one of those rare cases where I think the Bolt designers made a better choice: you control the speed with the brakes whenever you're in reverse, so pretty much every trip wipes the rotors at the beginning.