One pedal drive (vs) Brake regen

[MaineSailor]

Don’t forget that for the most part you are using regen and not mechanical braking in 2 pd mode. The regen is just less aggressive.

Yes, very true! The disturbing thing about the regen braking in 2pd mode is that the brake lights do not come on like they do when you lift off the accelerator in 1pd. My wife followed me in her car one day when I was in 2pd, and confirmed that this is true - BEWARE!

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[Fremont Kid]

You do realize that when you're driving in 1-P mode that there is a throttle position that is coasting right?

You don't PWM drive in 1-P--you'll give everyone whiplash, a headache, and will have to clean up vomit out of your once fancy Mach-E.

Thus when driving down the freeway in 1-P and you want to coast you don't remove your foot from the throttle, instead you move it to the coast position (its somewhere around 10%). Likewise moving the throttle to 9% is a little bit of regen, 8% is a little more, 7% is even more, until you get to 0% where you have full 1-P regen.

On the Mach-E this is the reason that 1-P and using the brake are equally efficient (if the driver is actually aware that the throttle goes from 0-100% and isn't simply a boolean value).

This is new to me. Is this explained in the user guide? If not, can you recommend a source? I don't use 1PD much because it just seems to drag if I misjudge the stop distance.
Also, using regen with cruise control is discouraged. I understand that blue cruise will automatically regen when going downhill, to maintain the set speed.

 

[AKgrampy]

Yes, very true! The disturbing thing about the regen braking in 2pd mode is that the brake lights do not come on like they do when you lift off the accelerator in 1pd. My wife followed me in her car one day when I was in 2pd, and confirmed that this is true - BEWARE!

I am going to check this out tomorrow but are you saying that when you apply the brake pedal in 2PD the brake lights do not come on? And to be sure we are on the same page you do realize that when you apply the brakes in 2PD it is regenerative braking unless you really reef on the brakes and then the mechanical brakes kick in. My thought was 2PD in the Mach was basically the same as braking in an ICE vehicle - let off the gas and somewhat slows but no brake light unless you press on the brake pedal.

 

[Motomax]

I have other ICE car and just want to make sure I wire my brain correctly.
1PD also auto holds right, because my ICE car won't and I don't want to run into things

Your brain should auto adjust between cars, at least mine does without issues. The one exception is that I keep expecting 1PD when I drive a Volt, I think it’s because my brain says electric car. Any other gas car and zero issues.

 

[Just Lurking]

Yes, very true! The disturbing thing about the regen braking in 2pd mode is that the brake lights do not come on like they do when you lift off the accelerator in 1pd. My wife followed me in her car one day when I was in 2pd, and confirmed that this is true - BEWARE!

The regen is not very strong in two pedal mode, though - I can engine brake and slow much more aggressively in a gas car without using the brakes, and that also won't show brake lights.

 

[devmach-e]

Yes, very true! The disturbing thing about the regen braking in 2pd mode is that the brake lights do not come on like they do when you lift off the accelerator in 1pd. My wife followed me in her car one day when I was in 2pd, and confirmed that this is true - BEWARE!

Are you being sarcastic here?

 

[buzznwood]

The regen is not very strong in two pedal mode, though - I can engine brake and slow much more aggressively in a gas car without using the brakes, and that also won't show brake lights.

The % of lift off regen changes with drive mode, with whisper being the least and unfortunately unbridled having the most which can easily unbalance the vehicle if you are trying to have some fun in the canyons and try to adjust with lift off, one of the downsides of an EV as unlike an ICE you can't just hang onto a gear to control your maximum speed.

Admittedly it is one of those things you get used too but as I find the mach-e has the steering of a bus and not an enjoyable canyon carver it is not much of an issue. However not being able to control the amount of lift off regen either individually via paddles or via a menu option independent of mode is going to be high on my list of deal breakers on any future EV purchase having it tied to a mode that adjusts other attributes doesn't cut it.

Ford could at least allow better control of it via use of a custom drive mode allowing us to mix and match the various presets like other manufactures do but they are far too bone headed for that.

 

[mkhuffman]

The % of lift off regen changes with drive mode, with whisper being the least and unfortunately unbridled having the most which can easily unbalance the vehicle if you are trying to have some fun in the canyons and try to adjust with lift off, one of the downsides of an EV as unlike an ICE you can't just hang onto a gear to control your maximum speed.

In my car, the 1PD regen is exactly the same in Unbridled and Whisper. I always wondered why people say the regen changes with drive mode. Maybe because the accelerator is more aggressive so people think the regen is more aggressive in Unbridled also?

I have done multiple back to back tests. In fact, I used to drive solely using Unbridled but switched to Whisper and nothing regarding regen changed. The car still stops in exactly the same places at stoplights and stop signs as it did in Unbridled.

 

[JamieGeek]

This is new to me. Is this explained in the user guide? If not, can you recommend a source? I don't use 1PD much because it just seems to drag if I misjudge the stop distance.
Also, using regen with cruise control is discouraged. I understand that blue cruise will automatically regen when going downhill, to maintain the set speed.

This is about all it says in the owner's manual:

The link takes you here:


The text above kind of implies that you're going to get a proportional amount of braking as you lift your foot off the accelerator. It could be clearer though.

I would bet that cruise control only uses regen/braking when it needs to slow down and its operation is likely completely separate from the 1-P setting. (e.g. it operates the same regardless of if 1-P is on or off.)

Also note that Ford has publicly stated several times that the Mach-E has a blended brake pedal which means even if you're not using 1-P you're regenerating when you press the brake pedal to some extent.

I drive in 1-P pretty much all the time and use cruise/blue cruise as much as possible without any noticeable affect on range.

 

[mkhuffman]

I would bet that cruise control only uses regen/braking when it needs to slow down and its operation is likely completely separate from the 1-P setting. (e.g. it operates the same regardless of if 1-P is on or off.)

Another forum member pointed out that using cruise in Whisper is much more comfortable compared with cruise in Unbridled. I have confirmed this is the case, and since then have only been using Whisper. The difference is speed control - in Whisper the car more gradually accelerates and decelerates when adjusting to the flow of traffic, which is a lot more comfortable IMO.

And I can still spin the tires in Whisper, so other than having to push the go pedal farther down to do it, there really is no change in how I drive.

 

[JamieGeek]

Another forum member pointed out that using cruise in Whisper is much more comfortable compared with cruise in Unbridled. I have confirmed this is the case, and since then have only been using Whisper. The difference is speed control - in Whisper the car more gradually accelerates and decelerates when adjusting to the flow of traffic, which is a lot more comfortable IMO.

And I can still spin the tires in Whisper, so other than having to push the go pedal farther down to do it, there really is no change in how I drive.

Sure its using the same curves from the drive mode settings which are kind of independent of 1-P being on or off.

 

[ctenidae]

Go brake go brake go brake go brake puke ?

Learn to feather the go pedal, and it's go, steady, brake. You know, just like you'd do in an ICE. Only without puking out gas fumes.

It's a rheostat, not a button.

 

[Msnwcpa]

I've been using 1pd since day 2 of owning the car but have always wondered is it better to switch it off during highway driving and just let the car coast?

That was exactly the recommendation to me during discover your Ford tour.

Use 1pd in city/stop and go it's for convenience. Use std 2pd mode on freeways and less congested roads.

 

[ctenidae]

The throttle pedal is pid tuned. There is no magical set point for coast through its travel in 1pd.

Not a set point, but certainly a point along a curve. I would suspect that it's relatively stable in relation to your speed - within some fairly consistent amount of travel from whatever pedal position maintains a given speed. If you were to lock the go pedal to some position, on a flat road with consistent conditions, you would maintain the exact same speed with minimal energy output and 0 regen. Move the pedal up a set amount, and the regen is probably very similar, regardless of speed (accounting for the 100kW max and physics at slower speeds).

 

[ctenidae]

Admittedly it is one of those things you get used too but as I find the mach-e has the steering of a bus and not an enjoyable canyon carver it is not much of an issue. However not being able to control the amount of lift off regen either individually via paddles or via a menu option independent of mode is going to be high on my list of deal breakers on any future EV purchase having it tied to a mode that adjusts other attributes doesn't cut it.

You control the amount of lift off regen by controlling the amount of lift off. It's a slightly tougher technical habit to get into, but you can't lift "off" - you just have to lift up.

A full lift off is a decent way to invoke a little trail braking, which is useful when driving a bus (agree with you on that point, for sure)

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