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Tesla should make the snow mode opt-in feature
- Thread starter prabhu
- Start date
Hurt by reducing regen when traction control identifies there isn't sufficient grip. BS
Haven't watched the video yet but sounds like it makes sense. If you hit an icy patch in an ICE car (pun intended) you instinctively lift off the accelerator so as to roll and not cause any further loss of grip, except in an EV with regen, you are effectively braking in this scenario, introducing more instability.
The snow mode is apparently getting triggered even on the slightest slip without any snow, so people are momentarily losing regen and power at the worst possible time. For example, on occasions you can let the accelerator off and assume the regen might be enough to slow down the car but due to the silent snow mode the regen will be limited so the car might never really slow down.
Ah this makes perfect sense. Is this mode on the 2021 model 3? Ive been driving recently and noticed varying degrees of regen braking on colder nights. One night I had zero regen braking. My 3 is in the service centre at the moment. I queried this "zero regen braking" episode. It was on a very chilly night minus 5 but this snow mode makes sense. Nice to have it as an option to press rather then coming on in auto fashion
Then use the friction brakes.
It is why they are there!
Another reason that drivers need to pay attention and not rely on the computers. We are a long, long way from autonomous driving.
I never assume the car will slow down ... I can instantly feel whether it's slowing enough, in which case I press the brake pedal. The rate that a car slows down is hugely variable, even without regen, and any driver accounts for these differences without even thinking.
Billbrown1982
TM3 LR 2021 | Red | FSD
I think this is a far better option than you hitting a patch of ice, lifting off instinctively and regen sending you into a death spiral.
BUT....possibly a little pop up when its active, like the regen may be reduced message, would be a happy medium.
BUT....possibly a little pop up when its active, like the regen may be reduced message, would be a happy medium.
Llama.
Lurking somewhere up North
I’m an experienced snow driver from an actually snowy country , but prior to this feature, I got a shock driving my M3 in the snow for the first time.
When gently lifting off the accelerator before cresting a hill, a slight burst of regen caused the to car immediately brake traction on the rear wheels which required some careful driving input. Ie steering into the skid etc.
Granted, our Michelin Pilot Sport tyres are rubbish in winter weather, but I definitely think having reduced regen in the snow is a good idea.
But I don’t want the car to decide when to be in ‘snow mode’ and reduce regen based on the temperature alone though. It’s frequently cold enough to snow when the road conditions are dry. That would rob drivers of regen about 9 months a year in some places.
Also driving in snow is more than just about brake feel. Something that reduces torque and acceleration like slip start is needed as well. If these features were combined it would be useful for snowy conditions.
This isn’t just another driver aid like ABS like some have suggested. Tesla’s are not advanced enough to decide when to apply a feature like this.
I’d suggest a pop up button at start up offering the use of snow mode if both the car and driver with ‘human eyes’ detects that it has snowed.
When gently lifting off the accelerator before cresting a hill, a slight burst of regen caused the to car immediately brake traction on the rear wheels which required some careful driving input. Ie steering into the skid etc.
Granted, our Michelin Pilot Sport tyres are rubbish in winter weather, but I definitely think having reduced regen in the snow is a good idea.
But I don’t want the car to decide when to be in ‘snow mode’ and reduce regen based on the temperature alone though. It’s frequently cold enough to snow when the road conditions are dry. That would rob drivers of regen about 9 months a year in some places.
Also driving in snow is more than just about brake feel. Something that reduces torque and acceleration like slip start is needed as well. If these features were combined it would be useful for snowy conditions.
This isn’t just another driver aid like ABS like some have suggested. Tesla’s are not advanced enough to decide when to apply a feature like this.
I’d suggest a pop up button at start up offering the use of snow mode if both the car and driver with ‘human eyes’ detects that it has snowed.
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Snow mode isn't a name, it's something that people have made up. From the video above it's triggered after the car has lost traction, not just on the temperature. Temperature may be a factor, who can say, but Bjorn was only creating it by doing 0-60 on a wet surface and feeling a loss of traction first.
I think the clue for anyone that if your car is not gripping the road then you should be breaking and accelerating progressively, like we were taught.
Exactly.
When driving in especially slippery conditions we need to treat lifting off the accelerator in the same way as using the brakes ... avoid!! In practice people are liable to be caught out ... just as people applying brakes are caught out ... so the traction control by the car needs to take over. The fact that Tesla have refined this to a higher level of functionality is no doubt responsible for their decision to remove the 2 level regen that those of us with the earlier cars still have. You can now remain in standard regen and know that if there isn't enough grip the car will not only temper the acceleration, it will also moderate the braking effect of regen ... this is definitely a good thing especially for the RWD only cars where regen is only ever coming from the back wheels.
