How to drive a Mach E in suburban city traffic

GoGoGadgetMachE

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There are still such drivers out there?!
just watch for the ones that have their brake lights on all the time. They are out there.

not sure who was taught that way mind you - I'm not the youngest person in the world, but from an early age I was taught the left foot is for clutch or nothing (how do you brake and disengage the clutch at the same time [which is a very common thing in a stick shift] if you use the same foot for both?). maybe people that have never learned a manual transmission? (it is 2021, lots of people don't know how to drive a stick)
 

dbsb3233

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After about 600 miles so far, I have found that Unbridled Mode gives me the best M/kWh rating with my Mach E (right now at about 3.7). I think it’s the increased regenerative braking that is contributing to it. I have found myself driving the car virtually in one pedal mode, right up until that last couple of seconds before a full stop.
More likely, that's just coincidence. The brake pedal applies just as much total regen recovery as 1PD or the more aggressive drive modes (unless you really hit the brake hard to kick in physical brakes).

1PD, "L", and Unbridled just apply more regen faster, so you slow down faster. But whether you slow from 60-0 MPH in 5 seconds or in 10 seconds, the same total amount of regen'd electricity should be recaptured.

Turning Brake Coach on will tell you whether your pedal braking was successful in recovering 100% of deceleration energy as regen or not. I'm showing 100% nearly every time using the brake pedal and driving like normal. If it's not 100%, it means your brake pads were used some.
 
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After about 600 miles so far, I have found that Unbridled Mode gives me the best M/kWh rating with my Mach E (right now at about 3.7). I think it’s the increased regenerative braking that is contributing to it. I have found myself driving the car virtually in one pedal mode, right up until that last couple of seconds before a full stop.
When I did my test drive last week the sales bro tossed me the keys and said have fun.

I got about a 45 minute drive in, set it to unbridled and flogged it as hard as was reasonable, considering, and when I was done I was amazed to see I had only used 1% of the available charge.

OPD was so intriguing I forgot to try heel/toeing. Anyone give it a shot yet?
 

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Since this has become a discussion about OPD, I have a question for OPD fans. I see someone mentioned "foot fatigue". It seems like OPD would create a lot of foot fatigue because of how carefully you have to control the accelerator pedal and because your foot is in the same position all the time. Do you find that is true, or false?

In an ICE car, you can take your foot off the accelerator and coast, giving your foot a little rest. And the process of moving your foot over to the break and pressing the break pedal changes the pressure on the foot, also giving it a break. With OPD your foot is always in the same place, all the time. Yes? No? Thanks for your insight because I have never driven a car with OPD before.
 


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Since this has become a discussion about OPD, I have a question for OPD fans. I see someone mentioned "foot fatigue". It seems like OPD would create a lot of foot fatigue because of how carefully you have to control the accelerator pedal and because your foot is in the same position all the time. Do you find that is true, or false?

In an ICE car, you can take your foot off the accelerator and coast, giving your foot a little rest. And the process of moving your foot over to the break and pressing the break pedal changes the pressure on the foot, also giving it a break. With OPD your foot is always in the same place, all the time. Yes? No? Thanks for your insight because I have never driven a car with OPD before.
Yes that is a possibility with 1-P and depends on how you drive how much fatigue you'll get.

In city traffic with 1-P and auto hold you rest your foot at traffic stops since you can sit there with your feet off the pedals and the car won't go anywhere (no creep so you don't have to hold the brake--but with auto hold you don't have to hold the brake with 1-P off anyway).

The more likley situation for foot fatigue (and the one most talked about) is highway driving. The thought is that you're constantly holding your foot to the pedal and will fatigue easily.

Except that, on the Mach-E, you don't have to. The driver automation features are such that you can use cruise control even in heavy traffic and not worry about it. Once you start trusting the systems you can take long drives on the highway in cruise and never have to touch the pedals (except in the odd instance where traffic stops and you have to hit the go pedal to let the car know its ok to start again).

I mentioned above that I've been driving 1-P now for 3+ years and don't really notice the fatigue now. You really don't get as much as you think (and with the cruise features...none).
 

dbsb3233

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When I did my test drive last week the sales bro tossed me the keys and said have fun.

I got about a 45 minute drive in, set it to unbridled and flogged it as hard as was reasonable, considering, and when I was done I was amazed to see I had only used 1% of the available charge.

OPD was so intriguing I forgot to try heel/toeing. Anyone give it a shot yet?
That was likely a quirk of the battery meter. Even just sitting in the garage playing with the settings for 45 minutes usually consumes more than 1%. Let alone actual driving.

Even very conservative driving will get no more than ~4 miles/kWh. 1kWh is a little over 1% of the battery. For every 10 miles, that's 2-4% of the battery used.
 

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just watch for the ones that have their brake lights on all the time. They are out there.

not sure who was taught that way mind you - I'm not the youngest person in the world, but from an early age I was taught the left foot is for clutch or nothing (how do you brake and disengage the clutch at the same time [which is a very common thing in a stick shift] if you use the same foot for both?). maybe people that have never learned a manual transmission? (it is 2021, lots of people don't know how to drive a stick)
I was taught the same way - right foot for accelerator and brake; left foot for clutch only (we're in the same "Old Timers Club" I guess). My wife drives me crazy because she uses two feet - right accelerator and left brake. She wasn't taught that way, however, as we both were taught in Drivers Ed to use one foot for both in our high school (we're H.S. sweethearts and Drivers Ed was the same for both of us). I even taught her to drive a manual transmission (on one of my father's cars) and she learned to do it but her feet had to be "retrained" to do it properly. As far as 1 pedal driving goes, I think I will leave it as is with using 2 pedals.
 

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Remember, this advise is coming from someone who drives two-footed in an automatic transmission ICE car. That pretty much says it all.
No kidding. I was taught never to use your left foot for braking. I guess I am just old school :)
 

@kWhpony

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I was taught the same way - right foot for accelerator and brake; left foot for clutch only (we're in the same "Old Timers Club" I guess). My wife drives me crazy because she uses two feet - right accelerator and left brake. She wasn't taught that way, however, as we both were taught in Drivers Ed to use one foot for both in our high school (we're H.S. sweethearts and Drivers Ed was the same for both of us). I even taught her to drive a manual transmission (on one of my father's cars) and she learned to do it but her feet had to be "retrained" to do it properly. As far as 1 pedal driving goes, I think I will leave it as is with using 2 pedals.
There's definitely a paradigm shift for ICE drivers who convert to EV's with regards to the behavior when letting off the accelerator in the different driving modes not to mention one pedal features. Having different profiles will help our spouses who want the ICE driving experience and basically ignore the other features that EV driving provides.
 

BATTERIESRIT

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O.K. I'll make this short.

Most Mach E reviews have to do with stuff like range, 0 - 60, general Mustang-nish, open road, mountains, winter weather, etc etc etc.

This is about taking your kids to soccer practice. Or just driving into work.

Here's the Executive Summary:

You want the drive mode to be "Low." One pedal is a gimmick. Kind of novel. Perhaps useful for some people with a personal issue. But otherwise, just messes with real driving, especially integrating Co-Pilot 360 features with the real world of American suburbia. "Low" is the perfect compromise between freestyle and dominatrix - regenerative braking wise. Your friction brake pads get 90% of the benefit, while you maintain ultimate control. Trust me on this, if you are new to this. Start out with driving in "Low" mode. After awhile, experiment with one pedal, if you are curious, or if you just were born to be a one pedal driver.

Set your adaptive cruise control to "Intelligent" mode. Thereafter, for most driving situations (exceptions would be late for work or going to the Emergency Room), turn on adaptive cruise control and lane centering. What you want to achieve is a state in which you and your Mach-E do a Vulcan mind meld. You don't drive the car. Spock (the MME) doesn't drive itself. It's more like Spock is a 3rd year resident in surgery. She does most of the operation, but you watch her like the proverbial hawk. The two of you make a great team.

What Spock does is most of the actual work. She keeps you in your lane. Adjusts your speed. Maintains proper distance (I suggest going with the "4 Avatar" car distance to begin -- the maximum separation between you and any leading (or cutting into your lane) car. I also suggest just setting the "Intelligent" cruise speed to the exact speed limit of the street on which you are traveling. Later on, if you want to dial it up to speed limit plus 7 or whatever, you can do it. But I advise against it. If you aren't late for work, just chill and listen to some good music or an interesting podcast. You'll arrive at your destination much more relaxed (and with less body odor).

Spock's job will be to keep you centered in your lane and adjust your speed and separation between the vehicle in front of you. Your job is to make sure that Spock doesn't accidentally sever the aorta. Plus you have to do the braking when you approach red lights or stop signs. Then, after you've stopped, you'll usually have to press on the accelerator to give Spock a little wake up call, as well as pressing the "resume" button in the center of your cruise control cluster on the left side of your steering wheel.

I've owned this car now a bit more than a day. Yesterday, I did a 130 mile drive on SoCal freeways. Today, a bunch of suburban driving in a wide variety of typical traffic conditions. Car has, to date, totally blown me away. As I wrote elsewhere, my expectations were sky high, and Spock (Premium trim, RWD, standard battery) has just melted (and melded) my mind. Awesome car. Just awesome.

Pro tip on lane centering: It won't work unless you have adaptive cruise control engaged. Also, when you change lanes, you have to turn your turn signal on in the direction of the lane change. The instant you do that, you control the direction of driving, not Spock. And until you turn the turn signal off, you are 100% in charge, not Spock. So be sure to turn the darn blinker off, once you are in the new lane of travel.

More, I'm sure, as time passes.

- Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach
Thanks. Picking mine up this week.
 

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Except that, on the Mach-E, you don't have to. The driver automation features are such that you can use cruise control even in heavy traffic and not worry about it. Once you start trusting the systems you can take long drives on the highway in cruise and never have to touch the pedals (except in the odd instance where traffic stops and you have to hit the go pedal to let the car know its ok to start again).
I am going to have to test this. I can't remember if I am mixing up the Mach E, with our Fusion Energi. In the Fusion Energi with CoPilot 360, you don't have to hit the accelerator to start again in stop and go. I know this because I used it this winter when we went to a Christmas light show in a park. It was the most relaxed I ever drove through one. The car followed the car in front of it like a duck following its mother. It stopped and started right along with the other car keeping the distance I had set without any pushing the accelerator. I am thinking the Mach E should do the same, but don't know for sure.
 

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I've never owned and have never driven a BEV or PHV before. On the test drive with the MME, I had 1PD turned on nearly the whole time and had no problem with it. Tried it in all the drive modes and even started to prefer it.

I'm not sure what I'll prefer once I get the car but, with the blended brakes, it's great to have the choice between 1PD and brakes without having to sacrifice regen. Another plus in the MME column!
 

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I am going to have to test this. I can't remember if I am mixing up the Mach E, with our Fusion Energi. In the Fusion Energi with CoPilot 360, you don't have to hit the accelerator to start again in stop and go. I know this because I used it this winter when we went to a Christmas light show in a park. It was the most relaxed I ever drove through one. The car followed the car in front of it like a duck following its mother. It stopped and started right along with the other car keeping the distance I had set without any pushing the accelerator. I am thinking the Mach E should do the same, but don't know for sure.
I know it speeds back up if just slowing, but not sure about a complete stop. AutoHold might come into play there too.
 

Illinibird

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There's definitely a paradigm shift for ICE drivers who convert to EV's with regards to the behavior when letting off the accelerator in the different driving modes not to mention one pedal features. Having different profiles will help our spouses who want the ICE driving experience and basically ignore the other features that EV driving provides.
We have a Ford Fusion Titanium Hybrid with a brake coach and I use it all the time and usually get between 95-100% regeneration to battery so I know how to brake to get full use of my hybrid and regenerate it correctly (I’m an ICE and PHEV driver). In driving the Mach E if it has a brake coach I’ll be able to do the same thing with 2 pedal driving so hopefully I shouldn’t suffer too much loss of the regeneration by not using 1 pedal driving mode (I hope - correct me I I’m wrong). It really doesn’t matter in the long run as I am not setting the car to 1 pedal driving (I guess I’ll be a junior BEV driver). ?
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