Why did Tesla remove option to disable regenerative braking?

[Tipjar]

I'm asking here instead of directly to Tesla because their only Contact Us options were for solar roofs or calling a store and neither of them knows....

While test driving the Model Y I noticed the regenerative braking was pretty aggressive. I called the sales person from the car to ask if I could adjust it. He explained that unfortunately Tesla removed the option to disable regenerative braking in the October 2020 software update, and suggested cheerfully that it's a driving experience drivers adapt to. (Some context here, I'm used to regenerative braking from my Prius of the past five years, but I like the freedom of easily toggling it on or off as needed, and its resistance is considerably milder than Tesla's.) I found Tesla's regenerative braking to be so strong it was similar to actively depressing a brake pedal half way to the floor when the foot wasn't on the accelerator. In my opinion it was a fatiguing nuisance having to stay on top of the accelerator all the time. I know you can engage cruise control as a workaround but cruise is only useful in certain conditions.

I went to an Earth Day fair a week later because many makes and models of EVs would be there and I wanted to hear pros and cons directly from owners. One Model Y owner said he'd always driven with regenerative braking at the maximum setting anyway so it didn't bother him, but he felt sure there was still a way to turn it off. Then a woman, intrigued by the topic, offered to take me on a test drive in her Model Y and go through all the settings for regenerative braking. We did and both agreed none of the settings made much difference. Then she confessed that she can't take her best friend around in her car because the regenerative braking gives her friend motion sickness, and that she'd heard similar stories from others. (But she was still crazy about her Model Y.)

What do you think Tesla's rationale is for removing the option of turning off regenerative braking, especially when it could limit their pool of consumers? It's a deal breaker for any buyer who has to consider how many kids/relatives, friends, business associates, or other unknown future passengers it might affect. My only thought has been maybe Tesla wants to pump up their range statistics and didn't realize that it could make some people ill or fatigued if they suffer from motion sickness or certain disabilities.

Aside from that, I'm bothered a seller can change something without my permission after I've paid for it.

 

[RayzorEV]

I think you just need to relearn how to one-pedal drive, tbh.

It's kinda of hard because my Rivian R1T has adjustable regen and it's like Tesla once was in terms of stopping power without ever touching the brakes. On the other hand if I only had my MY, then relearning might be easier.

 

[MdlYYY]

I'm asking here instead of directly to Tesla because their only Contact Us options were for solar roofs or calling a store and neither of them knows....

While test driving the Model Y I noticed the regenerative braking was pretty aggressive. I called the sales person from the car to ask if I could adjust it. He explained that unfortunately Tesla removed the option to disable regenerative braking in the October 2020 software update, and suggested cheerfully that it's a driving experience drivers adapt to. (Some context here, I'm used to regenerative braking from my Prius of the past five years, but I like the freedom of easily toggling it on or off as needed, and its resistance is considerably milder than Tesla's.) I found Tesla's regenerative braking to be so strong it was similar to actively depressing a brake pedal half way to the floor when the foot wasn't on the accelerator. In my opinion it was a fatiguing nuisance having to stay on top of the accelerator all the time. I know you can engage cruise control as a workaround but cruise is only useful in certain conditions.

I went to an Earth Day fair a week later because many makes and models of EVs would be there and I wanted to hear pros and cons directly from owners. One Model Y owner said he'd always driven with regenerative braking at the maximum setting anyway so it didn't bother him, but he felt sure there was still a way to turn it off. Then a woman, intrigued by the topic, offered to take me on a test drive in her Model Y and go through all the settings for regenerative braking. We did and both agreed none of the settings made much difference. Then she confessed that she can't take her best friend around in her car because the regenerative braking gives her friend motion sickness, and that she'd heard similar stories from others. (But she was still crazy about her Model Y.)

What do you think Tesla's rationale is for removing the option of turning off regenerative braking, especially when it could limit their pool of consumers? It's a deal breaker for any buyer who has to consider how many kids/relatives, friends, business associates, or other unknown future passengers it might affect. My only thought has been maybe Tesla wants to pump up their range statistics and didn't realize that it could make some people ill or fatigued if they suffer from motion sickness or certain disabilities.

Aside from that, I'm bothered a seller can change something without my permission after I've paid for it.

I liked your post. My biggest issues that are in your post are the customer service or contact us as they call it. Terrible in my opinion. When I finally did get an email back from someone it was basically pointless and they stopped emailing me anyway. Apparently Tesla does not care about what the customer has to say. Second, I feel lied to. I thought I bought a Tesla not rented one. They can take away features but when we as customers are unhappy with them and want it set back to the way it was when we bought the vehicle, they say that’s not possible. I normally keep my vehicle for a long time, but my Tesla experience has not been good and will be selling it soon. EV’s are not for everyone! I wish I had never sold back my Volkswagen TDI Jetta. Sorry for the extra rants.

 

[73Bruin]

I liked your post. My biggest issues that are in your post are the customer service or contact us as they call it. Terrible in my opinion. When I finally did get an email back from someone it was basically pointless and they stopped emailing me anyway. Apparently Tesla does not care about what the customer has to say. Second, I feel lied to. I thought I bought a Tesla not rented one. They can take away features but when we as customers are unhappy with them and want it set back to the way it was when we bought the vehicle, they say that’s not possible. I normally keep my vehicle for a long time, but my Tesla experience has not been good and will be selling it soon. EV’s are not for everyone! I wish I had never sold back my Volkswagen TDI Jetta. Sorry for the extra rants.

I agree with you to a limited extent. I don't think that Tesla should be allowed to take away features that were present in your car when you bought it (e.g radar). On the other hand, I can see you being frozen at the last version of software that supports that hardware and having to pay for service that upgrades the vehicle instead of getting it free over the air.

 

[Dennisis]

Never to be seen again? Place your bets….

 

[804son]

When I was in school, I had a woodshop teacher with 9 fingers. He didn't blame the table saw.
Just saying....

 

[GtiMart]

To their defense, the car is extremely easy to drive in general (some have called it an appliance), the traction and stability controls are very good. I often punch it in corners, even when there is some sand, and it just reduces power while staying mostly straight. You start feeling very safe. You let your guard down and then a critical situation arises that the car cannot handle. It's not magic, it has its limits.

 

[804son]

To their defense, the car is extremely easy to drive in general (some have called it an appliance), the traction and stability controls are very good. I often punch it in corners, even when there is some sand, and it just reduces power while staying mostly straight. You start feeling very safe. You let your guard down and then a critical situation arises that the car cannot handle. It's not magic, it has its limits.

The car does have very good traction control, it amazes me sometimes how I can punch it out of a corner even on snow, and it tracks very well and controlled. You're right, though, it does have it's limits if you fly into that same corner. You're done. There is no magic to stopping it's all about tires and ABS. I just don't understand the lack of personal responsibility.

 

[Dennisis]

When I was in school, I had a woodshop teacher with 9 fingers. He didn't blame the table saw.
Just saying....

I suppose if the saw launched him onto boulders he might have... (My dad had 7 whole and 3 half fingers by the way - saw eventually caught up to him)

 

[804son]

I suppose if the saw launched him onto boulders he might have... (My dad had 7 whole and 3 half fingers by the way - saw eventually caught up to him)

YIKES, OUCH!

 

[Dennisis]

YIKES, OUCH!

Yeah 3 at once at least. One at a time would have been signs of more problems.

 

[MY-Y]

It's seems so crazy that my 2020 MY, with the same software, has the ability to reduce regen, yet the later models don't. There is clearly software that reads the car age (or HW version) and chooses to allow the driver to set less regen or remove that feature.

 

[smogne41]

It's seems so crazy that my 2020 MY, with the same software, has the ability to reduce regen, yet the later models don't. There is clearly software that reads the car age (or HW version) and chooses to allow the driver to set less regen or remove that feature.

Yes, they just removed the menu option for cars made after a certain date. All the capability is still there in the car software and hardware (and you can get the settings ability back using S3XY buttons for example).

 

[Nubo]

Just to update my earlier response... I've finally adapted to the regen intensity of the Model Y and now find it appropriate to my driving style. In fact I miss it on those occasions where the vehicle decides to reduce it. Still, I remain fully sympathetic to those folks for whom it's not a good fit and the "learn how to drive" type of comments are spectacularly rude and unhelpful. For the 12+ years I've been driving EVs I have always thought that regen intensity should be driver-adjustable on-the-fly. Any pilot will be familiar with aircraft "trim" controls. It should be just like that, of course with the vehicle sometimes reducing the maximum on its own due to state of charge, temperature or other valid reasons.

 

[Brian-MS90D]

Just to update my earlier response... I've finally adapted to the regen intensity of the Model Y and now find it appropriate to my driving style. In fact I miss it on those occasions where the vehicle decides to reduce it. Still, I remain fully sympathetic to those folks for whom it's not a good fit and the "learn how to drive" type of comments are spectacularly rude and unhelpful. For the 12+ years I've been driving EVs I have always thought that regen intensity should be driver-adjustable on-the-fly. Any pilot will be familiar with aircraft "trim" controls. It should be just like that, of course with the vehicle sometimes reducing the maximum on its own due to state of charge, temperature or other valid reasons.

Sure, but at the same time it's just not the car's fault. It's only the driver's fault. "Not a good fit" does not mean the car is an uncontrollable death trap.

Every type, brand, and model of car has different driving characteristics. The idea that regen or the lack of adjustable regen is dangerous is absolutely silly.

 

[RayzorEV]

When I was in school, I had a woodshop teacher with 9 fingers. He didn't blame the table saw.
Just saying....

Same here. I actually observed the accident, he was distracted before his finger challenged the saw...

 

[Will Z]

I am glad they returned to allowing drivers to select the degree of regenerative braking. I like the aggressive/efficient regenerative braking. It is unfortunate though that pressing on the brake pedal does not use regenerative braking the way that the Prius' do.

 

[drtimhill]

I am glad they returned to allowing drivers to select the degree of regenerative braking. I like the aggressive/efficient regenerative braking. It is unfortunate though that pressing on the brake pedal does not use regenerative braking the way that the Prius' do.

otoh the way the Tesla is setup, it's easy to do one pedal driving

 

[Jigglypuff]

The accelerator should control the motors, from top acceleration to top regeneration. The brake should control... THE BRAKES! And that's it. As the owner of three brands of EV and the past owner of two more brands, Tesla does this part exactly right. But regen amount should also be controllable with a slider for personal preference, because why not?

 

[smogne41]

The accelerator should control the motors, from top acceleration to top regeneration. The brake should control... THE BRAKES! And that's it. As the owner of three brands of EV and the past owner of two more brands, Tesla does this part exactly right. But regen amount should also be controllable with a slider for personal preference, because why not?

My strong preference as well. Though I recognize some may prefer it another way and that is ok, as long as it is totally optional.

 

[smogne41]

I am glad they returned to allowing drivers to select the degree of regenerative braking. I like the aggressive/efficient regenerative braking. It is unfortunate though that pressing on the brake pedal does not use regenerative braking the way that the Prius' do.

Did any/all US cars actually end up getting this back, or was this just for the Chinese market cars?