Regen Dots

[BigBoy]

Hey,

So picked up our MIC Model 3 yesterday and took it for a spin to calibrate the autopilot and test it so we can report defects in the 7 day window.

Now I understand that regen dots mean that the battery is cold (or full), and I fully understand that, but after driving it for 30 or so minutes we still had dots on the regen and lifting the pedal off when approaching a roundabout at 60 mph, with plenty of time (admittedly in chill mode), maxed out the regen up to the dots, but didn't slow down enough so had to use the brake pedal.

It was slightly frustrating as the one pedal driving otherwise was amazing, and I would have thought 30 or so minutes at 60mph and climate on would have warmed the battery enough to use full regen.

Am I misunderstanding?

 

[Gatsojon]

Take it out of chill mode and give it some beans.

Never use chill mode again

 

[Big Earl]

Chill mode doesn't affect regen. With the 2021 model, you'll find that the heat pump draws quite a bit of heat from the battery pack, which will leave you with reduced regen more often than the previous model years that do not have the heat pump. Preconditioning prior to departure can help a bit, but I think you'll find that you rarely have full regen available in cold weather except immediately after supercharging.

 

[Needsdecaf]

Chill mode doesn't affect regen. With the 2021 model, you'll find that the heat pump draws quite a bit of heat from the battery pack, which will leave you with reduced regen more often than the previous model years that do not have the heat pump. Preconditioning prior to departure can help a bit, but I think you'll find that you rarely have full regen available in cold weather except immediately after supercharging.

But chill mode means that you won't accelerate slowly and delay heating the pack.

OP, did you have your regen set to standard and your stopping mode set to "hold"? Also, what was the temp?

 

[NorfolkMustard]

As above, the heat pump has pros and cons. Having climate on will draw heat from the battery.

precondition for 10 mins before you leave/get into the car if you can, pretty sure that on a heat pump car that will still use the stators to generate heat - let us know how you get on.

 

[Adopado]

OP, did you have your regen set to standard and your stopping mode set to "hold"? Also, what was the temp?

The refreshed cars only have one level of regen.

 

[Adopado]

In winter months it takes a good while to remove the dots (even on non-heatpump cars). If you precondition 10/15 mins before leaving the pre refresh cars have pretty decent regen from the start but the dots won't have completely gone.

 

[LukeUK]

I'm only driving short journeys at the moment and I can't remember the last time I had full regen. Low outside temperatures and Octopus Go charging mean that the battery is often cold when I get in the car. I don't see the need/value to precondition 10 minutes for a 10 minute drive, so I'm just very cautious of how long it will take regen to slow me down - not really an issue on country roads, most of the time.

I'm looking forward to getting more regen back, in the warmer weather. One pedal driving is a nice way to drive.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

Same here, regen has been weak to non-existent for the past couple of months, presumably because it's been cold. I don't remember it being like this last winter, though, and have wondered if cool weather regen has been turned down a bit with one of the updates.

 

[Adopado]

I'm only driving short journeys at the moment and I can't remember the last time I had full regen. Low outside temperatures and Octopus Go charging mean that the battery is often cold when I get in the car. I don't see the need/value to precondition 10 minutes for a 10 minute drive, so I'm just very cautious of how long it will take regen to slow me down - not really an issue on country roads, most of the time.

I'm looking forward to getting more regen back, in the warmer weather. One pedal driving is a nice way to drive.

It's no bad thing to give your brakes a bit of use! I'm thinking I may do less preconditioning for that reason.

 

[LukeUK]

They do get more use than usual at the moment, because;

1. Other drivers aren't interested in my winter one-pedal driving and often pull out in to the gap I've left.
2. I still like to floor it every now and again.
3. Life's too short, I don't always get it right.

In the summer, I reckon I can easily go for days without having to touch the brakes, and then like you, I wonder if I should, just to keep them moving.

 

[Billbrown1982]

Weird. I picked my car up from Bluewater and admittedly I didn't even notice what my regen was saying, but I drove with 1 pedal straight out the gate and all the way to harlow and didn't notice any issue with it stopping me.

Admittedly it wasn't a particularly cold day, but the car was brand new sitting in the car park for however long so it would have been "cold"

Strange. Have to see what happens over the next few weeks.

 

[Avendit]

As your speed decreases, lower levels of regen feel more adequate. its also very different from the old ICE coasting down as that has more friction at higher RPM and falls away as you approach idle speed and you have to transition to the brakes. So from higher speeds it initially feels like you don't have enough stopping power.

In terms of temperature, my made-up-on-the-spot scale on my older M3 is:
<0 deg C, pretty much no regen, drives like regen is off and coasts like an ICE out of gear.
<4 deg C, 1/3rds regen, enough to drive 1 pedal around town giving reasonable room to slow down
<10 deg C, 2/3rds regen, you are pretty much fine on regen now
~20 deg C, full regen

Below 10 deg C you also lose a spot or 2 of acceleration too BTW. So if you are new to the car, do take it for a spin one day immediately after a charge to experience the full power of the (battery?) side. Equally, if you want to go for a play NOW, but its really cold and the car isn't really playing ball, go and stick it on a fast charger (50kw+) for 5 minutes - feels like a totally different car with the battery actually warm for a change.

 

[Silicon Desert]

Same here, regen has been weak to non-existent for the past couple of months, presumably because it's been cold. I don't remember it being like this last winter, though, and have wondered if cool weather regen has been turned down a bit with one of the updates.

Just an FYI, firmware release 2021.4.11 includes "some" improvement to regen in cold weather. That may help some folks in the future.

 

[Mrklaw]

It's no bad thing to give your brakes a bit of use! I'm thinking I may do less preconditioning for that reason.

Isn’t it distracting (at least a bit?) if you’re used to backing off the accelerator to slow down but then have to notice you’re not slowing as quck as you thought, then need to move over to the brake?

Is a different system like VW maybe better (at least as an option) where the regen is on the brake pedal, and the car blends regen/friction - then if there is less regen available the car can add in more friction brake to give the same stopping perforamnce. As a driver you want consistent behaviour to your inputs?

 

[Billbrown1982]

Isn’t it distracting (at least a bit?) if you’re used to backing off the accelerator to slow down but then have to notice you’re not slowing as quck as you thought, then need to move over to the brake?

Is a different system like VW maybe better (at least as an option) where the regen is on the brake pedal, and the car blends regen/friction - then if there is less regen available the car can add in more friction brake to give the same stopping perforamnce. As a driver you want consistent behaviour to your inputs?

Honestly I find it quite natural. It probably helps that I drive trucks for a living and they all have a similar system of exhaust braking.

Some, you flick them on and instantly feel the resistance, others...you can put it on full and not even make a blind bit of difference, so I'm used to adapting my use of the brake pedal accordingly.

I do the same thing in the car. Can't imagine its that different once you get used to it.

 

[Kenners]

Really what’s the point of wasting juice pre-heating to get more regen. I just don’t get it. The logic seems to be if I use 2kwh preheating my driving efficiency will improve and save me 1kwh on my journey. I get the warm car in the cold bit of pre-heating course, just not the obsession with preheating to get rid of the dots.

 

[Adopado]

Isn’t it distracting (at least a bit?) if you’re used to backing off the accelerator to slow down but then have to notice you’re not slowing as quck as you thought, then need to move over to the brake?

Is a different system like VW maybe better (at least as an option) where the regen is on the brake pedal, and the car blends regen/friction - then if there is less regen available the car can add in more friction brake to give the same stopping perforamnce. As a driver you want consistent behaviour to your inputs?

I haven't had the opportunity to drive a car with combined regen/brake action only. I would speculate that because an EV has absolutely no noticeable retardation when you lift off if there isn't any added regen (unlike the engine braking in an ICE vehicle) you would surely be lightly dabbing the brake very frequently? However, I've not tried it so maybe that's not how it works ... maybe there's some light regen as well as the regen that's combined when you press the brake ... I don't know how they choose to make it work.

The fact that regen on a Tesla varies is a natural thing to adapt to (I find). We are all used to varying amounts of deceleration when we lift off on any vehicle's accelerator pedal e.g. if you lift off when going downhill you find that a car decelerates less, or going uphill it decelerates more, or on a very wet road it decelerates a bit more, or into the wind a bit less etc etc. In all that variety of situations you don't need to think about how much to actually brake ... you do it naturally, if the car is rolling faster than you want you press the brake a bit more without even thinking about it.

 

[CD_WE]

The refreshed cars only have one level of regen.

Not true, I have the refreshed MiC LR and it has Low and Standard

 

[Adopado]

Not true, I have the refreshed MiC LR and it has Low and Standard

It's been reported several times on this forum and elsewhere ... Google it, I didn't make it up honestly! Could your car be one of the last that have the options? Or did they bring it back again with a software update? Or maybe Fremont cars lost the options?