Tesla removes regenerative braking strength option

[danarcha]

Humans adapt pretty darn quickly. It wouldnt take you very long to get used to it. In fact, You would probably adapt in a day or two, much less if you ever drove a manual transmission anything (car, motorcycle, etc), anything where you had to shift gears and had engine braking.

You would adapt, because the feeling of deceleration if you take your foot completely off the accelerator would be enough to feel like you were learning to drive a stickshift vehicle. With that being said, a 30 minute test drive is not long enough to adapt.

My wife almost never drives my car, and drives by "pulsing" the accelerator as I mentioned. Also as I mentioned, a lot of people dont realize they do this, but the first time they drive a stick (or a car with regen braking like tesla or any other EV that has it) they will quickly realize that they "puuusshhhh" on the accelerator, then take their foot completely off to cost, then "puuuushhhh" then completely off, repeatedly.

Next time you get in your regular car, pay attention and see if you or your significant other drive like that.

I agree. On my test drive, I hated the regenerative braking and had the Tesla rep turn it off for my test drive. I understood it was good if I could get used to it though, so I left it turned on when I got my M3. It took about one day of driving to get used it. Now, when I drive my wife's ICE SUV, it feels dangerous and out of control when I release the accelerator and the truck barely slows down. It feels like a runaway train.

One pedal driving is one of my favorite features of the M3. I believe it is much safer also. I once had someone pull out in front of me and in the split second between taking my foot off the accelerator and pressing on the brake, the car had already slowed down significantly. I believe it helps stop the car much quicker in an emergency situation like that.

 

[JDMerica]

I didn't even look yet if I can turn it down on my 2021. I want it at the strongest but I'm used to driving manual cars and riding motorcycles. I hate being in an automatic car and having to hold my foot on the dang brake at a stop.

I feel like if you've ever seriously driven a manual car there's not even a learning curve, it's literally just like lifting off the gas while in gear at higher rpm to engine brake.

 

[drtimhill]

Its hard to say if we'd get used to it, test drive only lasted 30 minutes. I know we didn't like it and would prefer the toggle while we adapt, I'm glad the people who like it got to keep their preferred setting. Too much money on a maybe makes me uncomfortable. Does the model X still have the option? I'd prefer to have it to the point of even going for last years model Y.

Trust me, you will get so used to it you wont even think about it. Plus, its is soooo much easier doing one pedal driving.

 

[Electroman]

I can only pity the folks who get spooked by the sudden slowdown when you take your foot off the pedal, and start hating EVs because of that.

Because once you get a hang of it (which will take utmost a day or two) you will realize that is perhaps the no 1 feature you will fall in love in an EV - the ability to smoothly decelerate around corners and use the brakes only to come to a stop.

 

[MadMax082]

I’ve never driven a Tesla before my purchase. I absolutely love regen braking. After having my car for 3 weeks now, I’m so used to it.

 

[IronCoffee_Max]

Agreed - one of my favorite things. I actually wish I could make it a bit stronger at lower speeds.

 

[drtimhill]

It's the natural tendency for people to react badly to something that is unexpectedly different. We all think we know how an accelerator pedal should react, and are surprised (and annoyed) when the Tesla acts differently ("It's weird!"). Of course, once you habituate the regen, going back to an ICE car is the one that feels "weird".

I have family in the UK, and switching back/forward between left/right hand drive cars also feels weird for a day or so, but you get used to it (and no, I dont drive on the wrong side of the road at first!).

 

[Woodpecker99]

Anyone know if they will once again allow you to lower the Regen braking. Just got my Tesla yesterday and find it really annoying.

 

[Acrobaticlama]

This is probably a silly question.

From my understanding the regen breaking is useful to help top up the batteries and increase range. From my high school physics, admittedly further away than I’d like now, it takes more energy to get up to speed than to maintain it. So wouldn’t regen breaking then be a net negative? As you’ll need to use up more energy than whatever energy you’ve gained from the hard break, particularly if you just need to coast for a few seconds rather than come to a full stop.

Having said that I’m still waiting for my M3 and my only experience so far has been during the test drives. Useful for approaching reds, not useful for just slight slowing down.

 

[Msjulie]

So wouldn’t regen breaking then be a net negative?

Once upon a time I took a course where the question came up - regen is better than having to use the brakes but coasting is more efficient in the overall scheme. Our Audi hybrid does that by default (coasts) and I think they had to do that to get the mpg rating they claimed. You can override it though and get some reasonable regen. Otherwise, you can be on the highway and come to a downhill, reducing throttle input enough that it just starts coasting. No motor nor engine input as it uses the kinetic energy to keep moving. Odd feeling if you pay attention but the car is quiet so most likely never know.

That said, you control the throttle and can basically get it to 0 (no power input, no regeneration happening). I like the control the 3 gives; when the Audi is coasting, I always feel a little disconnected from the road. The Audi is good for what it is (a compromise car) but the Tesla is much more rewarding to drive.

 

[bo3bdar]

An acquaintance of mine took a Tesla test drive of a Model 3, and they had regen set to Normal. The car made her physically sick, nauseous. Had to lie down for 3 hours. No surprise she has no interest in buying a Model 3.

Taking away features like this is totally stupid. One size does not fit all.

 

[jjrandorin]

An acquaintance of mine took a Tesla test drive of a Model 3, and they had regen set to Normal. The car made her physically sick, nauseous. Had to lie down for 3 hours. No surprise she has no interest in buying a Model 3.

Taking away features like this is totally stupid. One size does not fit all.

She obviously drives by pulsing the pedal continuously, like a lot of people do and dont realize it. It doesnt take very long to adjust to, especially if one has ever driven a manual transmission vehicle, but that (people who have "driven a stick" ) is getting farther and farther away.

I had my car on low regen for like the first 2 days, and thats it (and was 2.5 years ago now). The model 3 never (ever ever ever) had a mode to turn regen OFF, just "down" so if someone doesnt like regen, they likely dont want this car.

 

[bo3bdar]

She obviously drives by pulsing the pedal continuously, like a lot of people do and dont realize it. It doesnt take very long to adjust to, especially if one has ever driven a manual transmission vehicle, but that (people who have "driven a stick" ) is getting farther and farther away.

I had my car on low regen for like the first 2 days, and thats it (and was 2.5 years ago now). The model 3 never (ever ever ever) had a mode to turn regen OFF, just "down" so if someone doesnt like regen, they likely dont want this car.

That seems like a perfect example of why it's better to have the option- it takes a couple of days to get used to it. You and I both know you can adjust, but how many people are going to give it a second chance when their first experience is that it's too jerky to drive? They lost a sale. Not that they care, because she's clearly not in the tech-bro target market.

More to my point, I actually use Low when I'm doing freeway driving because I then don't need to be as precise with the accelerator. I'd even like having the option of no-regen/coast. I think having options is always better because everyone is different. If it's clutter, hide it away somewhere, don't remove it.

 

[jjrandorin]

That seems like a perfect example of why it's better to have the option- it takes a couple of days to get used to it. You and I both know you can adjust, but how many people are going to give it a second chance when their first experience is that it's too jerky to drive? They lost a sale. Not that they care, because she's clearly not in the tech-bro target market.

More to my point, I actually use Low when I'm doing freeway driving because I then don't need to be as precise with the accelerator. I'd even like having the option of no-regen/coast. I think having options is always better because everyone is different. If it's clutter, hide it away somewhere, don't remove it.

The market for this car is waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy past "tech-bro". That might have been the case for model s and x, and at the launch of model 3, but not any longer. I suspect that they removed it for reasons like EPA range. My BMWs had auto start / stop that you could originally turn off and it would stay off, then they changed it to defaulting to ON no matter what mode you put in, due to CAFE.

I suspect (but dont know) that something similar is in play here, but one thing I agree with you 100% on is, one size does not fit all.

Everything doesnt have to be perfect for everyone (it cant be). There are plenty of people for whom this is not the right vehicle, for various reasons, and thats ok (more than ok, its expected). I certainly am not one of those that believes that "tesla will save the wooorrrlldddd!!!" or some silly thing like that. If the car is not right for her, thats ok, she will find one that is.

 

[smatthew]

I'm confused. My M3LR-RWD is on 2021.4.18.2 and I can change regeneration between normal and low.....

 

[techlogik]

An acquaintance of mine took a Tesla test drive of a Model 3, and they had regen set to Normal. The car made her physically sick, nauseous. Had to lie down for 3 hours. No surprise she has no interest in buying a Model 3.

Taking away features like this is totally stupid. One size does not fit all.

Like lumbar?

 

[jjrandorin]

I'm confused. My M3LR-RWD is on 2021.4.18.2 and I can change regeneration between normal and low.....

What appears to have happened is, for new model 3s and Ys, (definitely 2021s but maybe even 2020's I am not sure on that), the option to set the regen strength to low is gone. For existing cars like yours and mine, we still have that option.

Thats another reason why I think it has something to do with some sort of regulation tesla is trying to hit, or some EPA rating or some such.

 

[Earl]

So wouldn’t regen breaking then be a net negative?

The complete answer is "yes". It is definitely a net negative.
While this topic has been covered many times in the past, I'll restate it here for the benefit of newcomers since it is important to understand.
The issue is whether you need to decelerate faster than the normal parasitic drag (aero, tire, and drivetrain friction) would slow you down by just coasting.
Regenerative braking is more efficient when you compare it to friction braking, not slowing down by coasting (sometimes called 'freewheeling' with an EV).
Friction braking recovers 0% of the kinetic energy of your motion (it's all thrown away as heat). Regen braking recovers ~30% of your kinetic energy (~30% goes back into the battery, ~70% is wasted as heat). Parasitic drag is absorbing your kinetic energy all the time, including while friction braking or regeneratively braking so coasting is effectively 100% efficient.
If you must slow down quickly, which one must do in most real-world driving, you'll lose less energy with regen. If you don't need to slow down quickly, coasting is best.
Hypermilers try to anticipate their needs to slow down and (often annoyingly to other drivers) will try to decelerate very minimally so they don't need to use regenerative or friction brakes.
When going down a steep hill, since aero drag is a function of the velocity squared, there is some 'crossover speed' above which you're better off using some regen to capture some of your potential energy rather than let the aero drag limit your speed. I haven't bothered to compute that speed but I recall someone doing so many years ago with the EV1 and came up with it somewhere around 70 mph. Below this speed, freewheeling is best, at or above this speed, you're most efficient if you use regenerative braking to slow you to about this speed.
Feel free to search "regen efficiency" and see more discussions on this topic.

 

[Earl]

I'll add another possible reason for eliminating the low-regen option: Tesla might not want to warranty the brakes for people who choose low-regen.
On low-regen, your brake wear will be a lot faster than with normal regen and your brakes will need to be replaced a lot sooner.
Perhaps they've decided it is better to encourage people to learn to use regen than to pay to replace brakes while still under warranty.

 

[smatthew]

I'll add another possible reason for eliminating the low-regen option: Tesla might not want to warranty the brakes for people who choose low-regen.
On low-regen, your brake wear will be a lot faster than with normal regen and your brakes will need to be replaced a lot sooner.
Perhaps they've decided it is better to encourage people to learn to use regen than to pay to replace brakes while still under warranty.

Interesting idea, but I believe that brake pads are a "wear-and-tear" item and aren't covered by the warranty at all.