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Electric Vehicles

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It really is easy to learn one pedal driving. I switched it on pulling out of the showroom and haven't switched it off for three years. My car doesn't stop abruptly in one pedal driving, it's more gradual

Hill starts? What are they? I come to a stop on a hill by lifting my foot off the accelerator (applying the brakes if required) and press the accelerator to start again, regardless of incline.
 
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Filippo Lippi said:
It really is easy to learn one pedal driving. I switched it on pulling out of the showroom and haven't switched it off for three years. My car doesn't stop abruptly in one pedal driving, it's more gradual

Hill starts? What are they? I come to a stop on a hill by lifting my foot off the accelerator (applying the brakes if required) and press the accelerator to start again, regardless of incline.
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How doe it know if you want to accelerate or stop?
 
Filippo Lippi said:
It really is easy to learn one pedal driving. I switched it on pulling out of the showroom and haven't switched it off for three years. My car doesn't stop abruptly in one pedal driving, it's more gradual

Hill starts? What are they? I come to a stop on a hill by lifting my foot off the accelerator (applying the brakes if required) and press the accelerator to start again, regardless of incline.
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It's that part that seems to be lacking in a one pedal design, unless I'm misunderstanding how that one pedal works. And if your car does not stop abruptly, how do you make a panic stop?

Mind you, I rarely use the brake with a good automatic transmission, and my car has a very effective hill holder. Just stop, and the brake engages, push accelerator and it comes off, no hassle. But I still kind of need that brake pedal sometimes.
 
bruto said:
It's that part that seems to be lacking in a one pedal design, unless I'm misunderstanding how that one pedal works. And if your car does not stop abruptly, how do you make a panic stop?

Mind you, I rarely use the brake with a good automatic transmission, and my car has a very effective hill holder. Just stop, and the brake engages, push accelerator and it comes off, no hassle. But I still kind of need that brake pedal sometimes.
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Since I've had mine, I haven't made any panic stops, however the vehicle has made them twice!

Once because a driver lost control in the left lane and spun end for end through all the traffic ending up facing me in my lane. (I think he was trying to cut off the driver in the centre lane but can't be sure.)

Once because a 'dust devil' crossed the road in front of me and the car's sensor interpreted it as a solid object.

But yes, the brake pedal still exists in my car, it's just very rare that I need to use it.
 
bruto said:
I suspect that would require a very steep relearning for those accustomed to taking a foot off the gas to coast down gradually. Presumably with one pedal if you back off too fast the car will screech to a halt. If not, then you'd better also have a brake pedal anyway, even if the brake pedal, instead of activating friction pads, increases the level of regenerative braking to the max. Not to mention, jockeying the single pedal for a hill start could be pretty strange.
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It takes almost no time to get used to one-pedal driving and once you have experienced it, you will probably prefer it. It just feels more natural.

If you take your foot off the accelerator pedal, the car does not screech to a halt. It just slows down. If you need to stop quickly, you press the brake pedal. (BTW, if the car is almost fully charged, regenerative braking cannot be used so the car will use the brakes to slow when you back off on the accelerator. It is programmed so it reacts the same as when it uses regenerative braking.)

Starting and stopping on hills is much easier than in a traditional car. Once the car stops, it stays stopped until you tell it to go.

It is a fly-by-wire system. Instead of you having to figure out how to command the car to do what you want, you just tell it what you want it to do.
 
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Setting the car in one-pedal mode does not mean that I have to take the brake pedal out of the foot-well, or it retracts into the dash-board. The brake pedal still works and it works, mostly, by applying the brakes conventionally. Depending upon how hard you press the brake pedal, or how fast you're going, or how full you're battery is, the car will decide the proportion of regen to conventional braking to apply
 
I'm getting used to a new feature called "adaptive cruise control" that caps your speed at the MPH you set, but besides that will match the car in front of you to an appropriate distance (which is also adjustible, I have it set on max). As a result, about 80% of my braking is done by the car itself.

The times I most often wind up using the brake pedal is for turns, or lane changes where I'm fading back behind a car instead of passing them. One exception: stoplights. If there's a car in front of me as I approach, it handles it just fine. In fact, unless I come to a complete halt it even resumes acceleration. However, if I approach a line of already-stopped cars it seems to brake too late, at least too late for my comfort, so I find myself manually braking then.
 
jadebox said:
It takes almost no time to get used to one-pedal driving and once you have experienced it, you will probably prefer it. It just feels more natural.

If you take your foot off the accelerator pedal, the car does not screech to a halt. It just slows down. If you need to stop quickly, you press the brake pedal. (BTW, if the car is almost fully charged, regenerative braking cannot be used so the car will use the brakes to slow when you back off on the accelerator. It is programmed so it reacts the same as when it uses regenerative braking.)

Starting and stopping on hills is much easier than in a traditional car. Once the car stops, it stays stopped until you tell it to go.

It is a fly-by-wire system. Instead of you having to figure out how to command the car to do what you want, you just tell it what you want it to do.
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So by one pedal driving, you don't mean being supplied with only one pedal, so not all that different from driving a vehicle with good engine braking and a hill holder.

It sounds pretty benign, but I don't much like the idea that it simulates engine braking when it's fully charged, which strikes me as needlessly complicated, and a little uneconomical. As long as you have brakes, why not let it coast?
 
SezMe said:
[Totally on topic]
Had to look that one up. I gotta ask, Eddie, is "skeuomorphic" in your regular vocabulary or did you pull a fast one on us? :p
[/Totally on topic]
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I know the word and concept from fierce debates, mainly about Apple interfaces, about how appropriate it is to make graphic elements mimic real world items. Thing left like simulating leather on an address book. Or even making an on-screen button appear 3D.

I’m in favor of limited use of such things, and they don’t in general bug me.
 
bruto said:
So by one pedal driving, you don't mean being supplied with only one pedal, so not all that different from driving a vehicle with good engine braking and a hill holder.

It sounds pretty benign, but I don't much like the idea that it simulates engine braking when it's fully charged, which strikes me as needlessly complicated, and a little uneconomical. As long as you have brakes, why not let it coast?
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Regenerative braking can’t be used when an EV is near 100% charge because there is no place to put the energy generated slowing down the car. This isn’t a big deal because it is rare to charge an EV 100%. Having the car act different in this rare situation would create a safety issue.

Recommend practice is to only charge an EV to between 80% and 90% of full charge. Charging to 100% only when the full range is needed. Topping off the battery is slow. It may take as long to get from 90% to 100% as it did to get from 50% to 90%. Going to a full charge also stresses the battery.
 
Filippo Lippi said:
Setting the car in one-pedal mode does not mean that I have to take the brake pedal out of the foot-well, or it retracts into the dash-board. The brake pedal still works and it works, mostly, by applying the brakes conventionally. Depending upon how hard you press the brake pedal, or how fast you're going, or how full you're battery is, the car will decide the proportion of regen to conventional braking to apply
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Correct, and it is very easy to use and get used to. I got to drive the upcoming Bolt EUV with the one pedal driving and it was a bit strange at first, but quickly got used to it.

What was better was the Super Cruise that allowed me to drive hands free on the highway. Was really smooth in the curves and maintained lane well, even though I did not try and use the total functionality. The hard part was figuring out where to put my hands.
 
"You'll get used to it" isn't the same thing as "Doing it this way has specific, objective advantage so and so."

I didn't say I couldn't get used it, I said I didn't like it.
 
JoeMorgue said:
"You'll get used to it" isn't the same thing as "Doing it this way has specific, objective advantage so and so."

I didn't say I couldn't get used it, I said I didn't like it.
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It typically is an optional feature. You can turn it on and off. And yet, most people prefer to have it on. So, most users seem to like it once they try it.

What didn't you like about it?
 
Well I expect to feel engine braking if I lift off in my ICE car so a modest degree of regen braking ought to feel natural I guess. More natural than just coasting as if I'd knocked it into neutral, anyway.
 
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