Option to turn regen braking off...

[Joelly]

Hi, I would love to get your thoughts on the option of turning regen braking off. I know the cars have settings for normal and low, but there seems to be no option for zero regen braking at the moment.

The Background to this is that I test drove an e golf and very much enjoyed the option to turn it off entirely. The car free wheeled with hardly any resistance and if the road was flat, you could glide for a considerable distance and only lose 5-10mph. If the road was in any way downhill then you would either maintain your speed/go quicker. once you arrived at a junction, the initial braking (pedal) was regen, therefore it felt like I was not using as much battery as I was free wheeling, and still gaining energy when braking through regen through the brake pedal.

Does anyone know whether this actually increases or decreases expected range, and it would be great to hear people’s thoughts on this feature and whether it is even possible in the Tesla.

 

[Bernard_S]

You can effectively turn it off by just balancing it on the throttle. If you are happy to just coast to a stop then you will save energy but you are likely to have a large queue of disgruntled drivers behind you.

In the real world regen saves energy and increases range.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

You're not using any battery during regen so I don't understand where you're coming from with this.
How is no regen ever going to be more efficient than some regen?
Look at the power meter while driving and you'll see a point in the middle where you are not using power and you are not using regen. If you keep the accelerator pedal position constant at that point, you are effectively doing what I think you are requesting.

 

[Joelly]

The whole point was that I don’t want to balance the throttle and the stretches of road we’re too short for AP. Definitely wouldn’t come to a stop that way, but nice early braking meant that I was stopping entirely on regen as well. Less throttle and still max regen. Seemed a bit of a no brainier.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

Sounds like you'd be better off in an eGolf then.

 

[Joelly]

You're not using any battery during regen so I don't understand where you're coming from with this.
How is no regen ever going to be more efficient than some regen?
Look at the power meter while driving and you'll see a point in the middle where you are not using power and you are not using regen. If you keep the accelerator pedal position constant at that point, you are effectively doing what I think you are requesting.

Yes, however I want to do it without balancing the throttle. That is the what I’m trying to get at.

 

[tsh2]

From my experience with a CR-Z, the only way to improve rolling efficiency with a mild hybrid is to put the gearbox in neutral (so the engine is ticking over). With a purely electric drive (and fixed gearing), there will probably be no difference between 'zero power coasting', and break-even zero acceleration.

This sort of low acceleration optimisation should be one of the ways for Tesla to optimise range. There should be no need for driver intervention to get the gains you're looking for.

 

[MrBadger]

At request of Tesla, I'm currently using low regen to help bed the brakes in - hopefully to stop the squeal, but not looking promising.

I though I saw 3 regen options, but may be wrong, but if right, then probably an off option. But then you are asking about how to turn off off, so have probably looked and I am mistaken. Its not like its an every day option.

Also, in low car regen, the car still rolls significantly and the car certainly does not slow much and will require use of brake. I'm not saying that it glides, but its very much like driving an ICE vehicle. I would expect that it on any form of slope, the car would roll.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

The reason the eGolf has this mode (D mode) so it can coast is probably a lot more to do with helping VW to get better range figures than to make the driving experience better.

Teslas don't need a D mode because their range and efficiency is so good in the first place it's just uneccessary.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

At request of Tesla, I'm currently using low regen to help bed the brakes in - hopefully to stop the squeal, but not looking promising.

I though I saw 3 regen options, but may be wrong, but if right, then probably an off option. But then you are asking about how to turn off off, so have probably looked and I am mistaken. Its not like its an every day option.

Also, in low car regen, the car still rolls significantly and the car certainly does not slow much and will require use of brake. I'm not saying that it glides, but its very much like driving an ICE vehicle. I would expect that it on any form of slope, the car would roll.

There is only Standard and Low on the Model 3. There is still significant amount of regen in 'Low'.

Out of interest, did they just ask you to select Low and drive it normally or have they given you a bedding procedure? You can bed them in the space of a few miles if you know what to do. I would say most Model 3s in the UK have suffered from insufficient brake bedding.

BTW , you could be quite near me so I'd be happy to meet up if you want to discuss this in more detail.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

I've been driving cars with regen braking since 2005, and after a while balancing the throttle to freewheel becomes second nature. It's worth sticking with it and just acquiring the natural reflex to do this, as once learned it does make driving a lot easier. I once drove a car with no engine braking at all for a while (a Wartburg Knight) and it was an experience I'd not particularly want to ever go back to.

 

[MrBadger]

Out of interest, did they just ask you to select Low and drive it normally or have they given you a bedding procedure? You can bed them in the space of a few miles if you know what to do. I would say most Model 3s in the UK have suffered from insufficient brake bedding.

BTW , you could be quite near me so I'd be happy to meet up if you want to discuss this in more detail.

'Bedding in' was my words. Basically Tesla just want us to use the brakes more to see if the squeal goes away - spoiler alert, no sign of this yet. If you are close by, then apologies for waking you when we reverse off our drive in the morning!

I find low regen stops the pulling up suddenly (if used in anger) at higher speeds and at lower speeds is so minor that I can't even say I have noticed it as im having to use the brakes pretty much as normal as driving an ICE.

 

[Adopado]

Less throttle and still max regen. Seemed a bit of a no brainier.

Well not really a "no brainier" [sic]. You either get your regen all at once as you slow more quickly (as you would like) or you get your regen continuously but gradually over a long stretch. I can't say for sure but I tend to think that it's easier to maximise the regen recovery gradually than in a short burst, even though you may feel it's doing more because of the obvious retardation effect. If you own an electric car and become familiar with the present regen function you realise why it is the way it is. It's not like somebody hasn't thought of this option and measured the advantage/disadvantage.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

'Bedding in' was my words. Basically Tesla just want us to use the brakes more to see if the squeal goes away - spoiler alert, no sign of this yet. If you are close by, then apologies for waking you when we reverse off our drive in the morning!

I find low regen stops the pulling up suddenly (if used in anger) at higher speeds and at lower speeds is so minor that I can't even say I have noticed it as im having to use the brakes pretty much as normal as driving an ICE.

Haven't heard the sqealing so far, so you must be far enough away from me but I know of a blue M3 in a Surrey town beginning with F and ending with Y so thought that might be you.

You probably just need a few hard braking cycles to sort your problem (AKA an Italian brake tune).

 

[MrBadger]

Haven't heard the sqealing so far, so you must be far enough away from me but I know of a blue M3 in a Surrey town beginning with F and ending with Y so thought that might be you.

Na, we are in C and Y yes, could be us, very much the borders.

MSM by any chance?

 

[Joelly]

Well not really a "no brainier" [sic]. You either get your regen all at once as you slow more quickly (as you would like) or you get your regen continuously but gradually over a long stretch. I can't say for sure but I tend to think that it's easier to maximise the regen recovery gradually than in a short burst, even though you may feel it's doing more because of the obvious retardation effect. If you own an electric car and become familiar with the present regen function you realise why it is the way it is. It's not like somebody hasn't thought of this option and measured the advantage/disadvantage.

ok, ok. Maybe not a no brainier, and I guess deep down that I know this would have been considered and a decision made to always have some form of regen. But I thought I’d try and get some people’s thoughts. If you get it wrong, it is a very poor way of driving - 60, down to 50, up to 60 every quarter mile or less.

 

[Joelly]

Sounds like you'd be better off in an eGolf then.

But it has about 12 miles range

 

[Dangerous Fish]

But it has about 12 miles range

That's why they have D mode

 

[Dangerous Fish]

ok, ok. Maybe not a no brainier, and I guess deep down that I know this would have been considered and a decision made to always have some form of regen. But I thought I’d try and get some people’s thoughts. If you get it wrong, it is a very poor way of driving - 60, down to 50, up to 60 every quarter mile or less.

It doesn't work like that. You'll see once you get your Tesla.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

Na, we are in C and Y yes, could be us, very much the borders.

MSM by any chance?

You're even closer to me then! Yes, MSM but there's a clone of mine nearby, so could be either of us...