When Do The Brake Lights Come On?

[dewittbo]

The brake lights come on, of course, when the physical brake is applied. I assume they also come on at some point when braking with regenerative deceleration occurs to let drivers behind you know that you are slowing down. If so, at what point do they come on?

 

[Daniellane]

The brake lights come on, of course, when the physical brake is applied. I assume they also come on at some point when braking with regenerative deceleration occurs to let drivers behind you know that you are slowing down. If so, at what point do they come on?

From Model S owners Manual:
Note: If regenerative braking is aggressively slowing Model S (such as when your foot is completely off the accelerator pedal at highway speeds), the brake lights turn on to alert others that you are slowing down.

Does Regenerative Braking Activate Brake Lights?

 

[Uncle Paul]

You can look on your display to see when your brake lights come on. Your model Tesla's brake light will glow brighter red.

 

[ewoodrick]

Same time that the lights on the car in the display come on.

 

[BigMskiman]

In current software, you also see 2 red patches of light behind your car. They are easier to see than the tiny avatar lights.

old |v2019.15.11|AP2,MCU1,PUP|
new |v2019.20.1 9973c22|AP2,MCU1,PUP|

 

[docfrag]

As above. I hate when drivers "put on their brake lights" (brake) unnecessarily and so have had an urge to control this myself, but I have stopped trying. Perhaps for better.

 

[dewittbo]

Thanks for your responses. I know the display shows when the brake lights come on, but the lights on the display are so tiny it’s hard for my old eyes to see, except when I actually apply the brakes, when the display lights do seem to glow brighter.

 

[dewittbo]

An update to my question: in a standard car, when one takes one's foot off the brake, the car immediately begins to slow down, but there is no indication of this relative to the brake lights (something I have always thought as illogical: since the car slows down, doesn't it make sense to tell the driver of a car behind you that it is doing so with a yellow light, or something?), and then the brake light only comes on when one applies the brake.

In a Tesla, the car also begins to slow down immediately with regenerative braking, but more dramatically, of course. I have observed that the brake lights on the avatar come on at some point, but don't seem to do so immediately. So, if that is the case, my question is: at what point do the brake lights come on: as soon as the pressure on the accelerator is eased, or when the foot is completely removed from the accelerator, or at some point after the car has slowed down to some percentage of its original speed, or what?

 

[Big Earl]

The brakes come on when the car reaches a certain rate of deceleration, but I don't know what that deceleration rate is ... -0.1 g or something. So slowing down gradually won't turn them on and annoy others, but stronger regenerative braking will turn them on.

 

[dewittbo]

That's about what I thought. Thanks, Big Earl.

 

[SDRick]

During the day I now find it very difficult to see whether the brake lights are on in the dash avatar. The avatar seems to be much smaller than before and the little tail lights not as bright. It is now much more difficult to confirm that brake hold is active at stoplights or if my actual brake lights are on when I regen. What changed, the software, or the difference between Ap1 and 2?

Anyone else have this problem or know of a fix?

 

[dewittbo]

I agree with you, but have no fix, unfortunately

 

[BigMskiman]

During the day I now find it very difficult to see whether the brake lights are on in the dash avatar. The avatar seems to be much smaller than before and the little tail lights not as bright. It is now much more difficult to confirm that brake hold is active at stoplights or if my actual brake lights are on when I regen. What changed, the software, or the difference between Ap1 and 2?

Anyone else have this problem or know of a fix?

A white and circled H will show in upper right ICU, telling you Hill-Hold is ON, otherwise it's not

 

[SDRick]

A white and circled H will show in upper right ICU, telling you Hill-Hold is ON, otherwise it's not

Thank you for pointing that out. I guess my steering wheel has been set low enough to block out the H so I never knew it was there. Has it always been there?

Now the only thing that is difficult is to see when the brake lights come on under regen. Hopefully you can do a fair amount of regeneration before the brake lights come on so it does not look to others that you are riding your brakes.

 

[BigMskiman]

Thank you for pointing that out. I guess my steering wheel has been set low enough to block out the H so I never knew it was there. Has it always been there?

Now the only thing that is difficult is to see when the brake lights come on under regen. Hopefully you can do a fair amount of regeneration before the brake lights come on so it does not look to others that you are riding your brakes.

"H" has been there since MX rolled out years ago. Agree the little lights on avatar are hard to see, I think that's why a glow on pavement (came out in recent software) behind the car shows breaking, but faint in broad daylight. Regen is braking, so the lights come on very often.
old |v2019.20.2.1|AP2,MCU1,PUP|
new |v2019.20.4.2|AP2,MCU1,PUP|

 

[SDRick]

Agree the little lights on avatar are hard to see, I think that's why a glow on pavement (came out in recent software) behind the car shows breaking, but faint in broad daylight. Regen is braking, so the lights come on very often.

Yes, I noticed the glow on the pavement and agree it is still not bright enough in daylight (though I hope it is not showing my car breaking)!. If regen is braking, I must look like a fool riding my brakes as I use regen early and often.