So today I got in my car and was driving down the road. When I lifted my foot off the accelerator pedal, I was surprised to find that my car just coasted along, and I had to quickly press the brake pedal to slow it down.
What was interesting about this is that I was driving my Ford Escape Hybrid (Ha! Did I fool you?). Now, I've driven a Volt for a few years prior to my model S, but today was the first time where I realized it is now my normal expectation to have regen slow the vehicle I'm driving when lifting off the accelerator pedal. Some of you might find this boring, but for me it was a pivotal and interesting moment in my vehicle driving history.
Not only has my default expectation changed, but it has finally convinced me that regen just on the accelerator pedal is really the way hybrid and EV vehicles should operate. I know many of you have thought that for a long time, but I always felt there was still some merit in blending the regen into the brake pedal action like many of the other automakers use. But this event gave me the final proof I needed to fully take the side of regen only on the accelerator. I've always thought regen on the accelerator was a simpler approach that provides more information to the driver (knowing when regen ends and braking begins), but I held onto the belief that slowing only when pressing on the brake pedal might always feel more natural. Today proved that assertion wrong (or at least not necessarily right).
What was interesting about this is that I was driving my Ford Escape Hybrid (Ha! Did I fool you?). Now, I've driven a Volt for a few years prior to my model S, but today was the first time where I realized it is now my normal expectation to have regen slow the vehicle I'm driving when lifting off the accelerator pedal. Some of you might find this boring, but for me it was a pivotal and interesting moment in my vehicle driving history.
Not only has my default expectation changed, but it has finally convinced me that regen just on the accelerator pedal is really the way hybrid and EV vehicles should operate. I know many of you have thought that for a long time, but I always felt there was still some merit in blending the regen into the brake pedal action like many of the other automakers use. But this event gave me the final proof I needed to fully take the side of regen only on the accelerator. I've always thought regen on the accelerator was a simpler approach that provides more information to the driver (knowing when regen ends and braking begins), but I held onto the belief that slowing only when pressing on the brake pedal might always feel more natural. Today proved that assertion wrong (or at least not necessarily right).
