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No Physical Drive Mode Selector?

4K views 47 replies 7 participants last post by  JRRF 
#1 · (Edited)
[ deleted ]
 
#2 ·
The Polestar has something very similar but it is selectable on the control panel vs the shifter. You can have full regeneration, partial regeneration, or very little regeneration. If you put it on full you will have the same one pedal experience you have in the Bolt.

And as for the brake light, regardless of whether you are using one pedal driving or the brake pedal, if the car begins to slow beyond a certain g-force, the brake lights will come on. I know it works this way in the Bolt, and I'm fairly certain it's the same for the Polestar. And just like the Bolt, the Polestar brake pedal uses a blended system of regen first and then friction brakes.
 
#4 ·
Yes, it's on the screen. The Bolt is software controlled also, but you activate it with a physical stick by going into L mode.

I agree that in D it's unlikely that the brake lights will come on, but they are not only activated by the brake pedal itself but by the amount of negative g's. I'm not a huge fan of one pedal driving and usually leave my car in D and so may set the P2 for minimal regen. What I have become used to is the regen paddle but the P2 does not have one of those. Maybe I'll get used to one pedal driving at some point, but it's hard to teach an old dog new tircks. :)
 
#6 ·
I will miss the regen paddle too. But if I can't do without it then I can't drive a P2 🙃

I can assure you that every EV out there activates the brake lights when regen hits a certain negative g-force without regard to the brake pedal. The same is true for ACC systems. The brake pedal will also activate the lights, but just think for a moment if you could do significant regen (via paddle, L, one pedal driving, ACC, etc.) without the brake lights activating. Accident rates would skyrocket, and the government has mandated it.
 
#8 ·
Not only am I an EV driver, but I've driven a Bolt on many occasions. I think what you are looking for may be unique to the Bolt, or Chevy. Chevy did a number of things with the Bolt and Volt to make them as similar to an ICE car as possible. Those were marketing decisions from 10 years ago. But that's not the general direction of the EV market today. And my suspicion is that you are unlikely to find it on newer cars, particularly higher end ones. Hyundai and Kia have some capable EVs that compete directly with the Bolt, and you might want to investigate if they have this unique feature.
 
#10 ·
The Kia Niro EV (and I think Kona EV too) has paddles to control level of acceleration and level of braking on the steering wheel itself - not unlike paddle shifters on sports cars.
I admit I wish something like that was on the P2. Would be great if one of the steering wheel buttons could be repurposed for this or if the gear selector could be used.

Having to touchscreen this is not ideal - although I think it's just two taps, one to get to the drive settings, and another to hit the braking setting.

Voice activation for this switch seems cumbersome, although I guess I would mainly be switching from one pedal operation to coasting on the highway and back to one pedal for the city or suburban streets.
 
#14 ·
Also, note that braking with the P2 (up until a pressure point) does increase the regen strength rather than invoking the friction brakes (some other EVs only use friction braking entirely). So you can still increase regen but it won't be with one peddle driving.
 
#25 · (Edited)
There has to be something more than rudimentary one-pedal driving like a glorified golf cart.
I also wish there was a easily accessible way to increase regen from the hand controls. I like how the Kia Niro has paddles (ala shifter paddles) that actually control regen.

I'm coming from a manual transmission car and more regen input would have definitely been a nice way to increase my control over the deceleration (like I do with downshifting).

But I do believe such control is an exception rather than the rule. Even the most popular premium EVs (i.e. Teslas) have no such control so calling all cars that lack it "golf carts" is a pretty big insult IMHO.
 
#17 ·
The P2 has blended brakes just like the Bolt. Most of the travel does not engage the friction brakes at all. Only at the bottom do the calipers engage the disks. I find modulation on the Bolt to be fairly easy.

The calipers don't do regen (on the P2 or the Bolt). All the regen is done with the motors with software blending in the calipers only as necessary to generate the stopping force your foot is requesting.
 
#19 ·
You're the first one to claim that modulating the brakes for regen in the Bolt is fairly easy. I couldn't disagree more, especially compared to simple L mode toggle and letting the main traction motors do its thing.

You're also contradicting yourself in "calipers don't do regen" then "software blending in the calipers only..." Whatever the specific brake component is called, it's not the main regen of the motors without touching the brake pedal.
The sw blends the motors with the calipers. Those are the 2 braking components. The pedal first engages the motors for regen, then as necessary (through a sw algorithm) the calipers are engaged for friction braking.

Motors do regen. Calipers do friction. The software blends the two based on pedal deflection and pedal engagement speed.
 
#28 ·
That's what I said about brake calipers — except I put a question mark at the end triggering the hifalutin spillage of "knowledge."

The fact that friction is not as good as motorized regen to recapture energy is again one of the pillars of my post. It seems to get confusing to those who are not currently driving EV in a daily basis. Having driven one helps, but JRRF lose the key points of this topic.
Friction recaptures zero energy. It only generates heat.

While it's not particularly relevant, I drive an EV every day. Though with COVID my EV can sit in the garage for days between shopping trips.
 
#32 ·
But I can also imagine the daily grind of holding that accelerator pedal halfway down. Or, before driving off, having software-switched to a lower regen and having to move my foot over to use the friction brakes all the time — UGGGH — definitley not my preference for so many reasons.
Despite the other shortcomings, with blended brakes you won't be using much friction and are unlikely to ever do a brake job on the car.
 
#34 ·
Again, I have to totally disagree. The modulation required of using mostly the regen portion of the brake pedal movement while avoiding the friction portion of the brake pedal movement during regular driving is NOT ideal.

You may claim that it's easy, but com'on. In spirited driving, you gonna slam into something due to underestimation of stopping distance.
It hasn't happened to me yet, but I'm sure it's possible. The only issue I have is when you hit a bump while braking (regening). The car seems to fly forward because without ground contact, regen braking disappears.
 
#36 ·
It reveals your driving style. Keep in mind that the P2 has 400HP and over 400LB-FT of torque. It's sprung for sporty driving, not frugal putt putt around town.

The Chevy Bolt, for one, certainly does not fly forward when hitting a bump during strong regen. There's sometimes a loss or reduction of braking, but it's the same loss or reduction as common friction brakes when there's less rubber contact on pavement.
In my mind it reveals more about what the insurance cost for the car will be :oops:

Maybe it depends on the bump. I've done it in a Bolt and a Volt. There's a particular bump on the way to my local Subway that does it every time :) I've not driven over that bump in a Tesla yet, but my suspicion is that the effect has everything to do with regen braking, and nothing to do with the car. I know BMW i3 drivers have experienced this too: Regen braking and hard bumps on road - BMW i3 Forum
 
#37 ·
Hey @zenken, Here's the sections in the Polestar 2's owner's manual for regenerative braking and setting level of braking effect.

It has to be adjusted in the center display.

PositionBraking effect
OffNo braking power will be applied and the vehicle will roll freely.
LowSome braking effect will be applied.
StandardHigh braking effect.

Regenerative Braking

Setting Level of Braking Effect
 
#39 ·
Yeah thanks. I saw that. It's why I posted here to ask if anybody knows any better, like actual test driving for example, because a few units are now on the road. So with only stats and specs and descriptions, it's really only our imagination.

The actual driving dynamics in any of the modes will be key to determine if the P2 is really good. I think it's sad that, on paper at least, drove mode is really only a software setting.
I believe the I-Pace also has a sw setting. But I'm sure the e-Tron has a paddle type shifter.
 
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