Cruise Control vs One Pedal Drive?

[InTheHills]

What I'd be MORE concerned with is OP using cruise control in a school zone. That feels like a place where I would not want my car deciding how fast I'm going.

I used 'school zone' to convey the message in a quick and easily understood manner. In reality where I live the highways go through a LOT of tiny towns with reduced speed limits where the primary income of the town is the speed traps. I use cruise for this almost all the time. I also use cruise for these school zones that we have setup with a reduced speed limit 24x7 365 even when school is not in session and no children are present. I assure you that no children are in danger from my use of cruise control.

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[InTheHills]

Why would you want it to brake after speeding up to pass someone?

Perhaps you live somewhere like the Ozarks where most of your driving is on twisty 2 lane roads where you have very limited opportunity to pass someone. So you have been sitting on cruise control set at 60 for 6 miles while the car does its thing and keeps you a safe distance from the guy going 48-50. Then you finally get a dashed yellow line and there is no on coming traffic so you slam on the accelerator pedal, get to 80 mph, pass the slow poke but then have another curve coming up very rapidly that you need to slow down for. This is my life...

Im accustomed to one pedal drive slowing the car down when I let off the accelerator, except now it does not do that because cruise control was on. It is just strange that one pedal drive is disabled in that one unique circumstance.

 

[ReverendPete]

What I'd be MORE concerned with is OP using cruise control in a school zone. That feels like a place where I would not want my car deciding how fast I'm going.

Actually, I kind of get the idea of using cruise control in a school zone. I find it VERY difficult to keep my car at 20mph in a school zone (not using 1pd), because the difference between going 20mph and, say, 25mph is such a minuscule difference in pressure on the accelerator... The only way I can manually keep it at 20mph is if I'm continuously staring at the speedometer, which isn't particularly great either! So using it to set your top limit is not a horrible idea, it's not like it stops you from using the brakes. And it will still slow down if it senses a car in front of you. It's not like we're talking highway speeds here...

 

[Mach-Lee]

I always use one pedal drive so I am accustomed to the car slowing down when I let off the skinny pedal.

But when cruise control is set, one pedal drive does nothing. With cruise control set, when I let up off the skinny pedal the car seems to coast until it comes back to the cruise control set speed.

Is this normal? Does it makes sense? I feel like one pedal should do the same thing EVERYTIME and that it changing behavior makes it less predictable and almost dangerous. Every other time I let off the accelerator pedal I slow down, except if cruise is set then it does not slow down.

I have had a couple times already where I had cruise set for a school zone or something miles ago, I had completely forgotten it was on but find out in a hurry when I let up off the accelerator expecting the car to slow down and it does NOT!

The other scenario it happens is when Ive been in the town using one pedal for miles, I get on the highway and set cruise, I speed up to pass someone... except when I let off the accelerator pedal the car does not act like it does the rest of the time and it just coasts down to set speed.

This is normal behavior in 1PD Whisper. If you touch the accelerator pedal while you're moving faster than the cruise control set speed, the car will enter coast mode. Conversely, if you do not touch the pedal while cruise is engaged, the cruse control will allow +1 or +2 MPH over set speed (depending on software version) going down a hill before regenerative braking will kick in and try to maintain that differential over set speed.

If you want to cancel coast mode, disengage and re-engage cruise control. Or just slow down below the set speed. I think changing the set speed will also kick it out of coast mode.

The coast feature is nice for passing, with cruise engaged you can just press the pedal to pass someone, then let go and wait for the car to coast back down to set speed. Coasting is more efficient than using regenerative braking in this situation.

If you do not like the coasting, then switch drive modes to Engage or Unbridle.

 

[InTheHills]

The coast feature is nice for passing, with cruise engaged you can just press the pedal to pass someone, then let go and wait for the car to coast back down to set speed. Coasting is more efficient than using regenerative braking in this situation.

If you do not like the coasting, then switch drive modes to Engage.

My issue is that I am often on two lane highways on curvy roads and have a short stretch to pass on a dashed yellow... and then a sharp curve! This is where the cruise, accelerate and coast is the opposite of ideal.

I think it does this in Engage mode as well but I will test it out ASAP!

 

[Sikkun]

My issue is that I am often on two lane highways on curvy roads and have a short stretch to pass on a dashed yellow... and then a sharp curve! This is where the cruise, accelerate and coast is the opposite of ideal.

I think it does this in Engage mode as well but I will test it out ASAP!

Hit x (to stop cruise), pass and slow down, then hit resume (restart cruise) is probably going to be the smoothest.

 

[devmach-e]

My issue is that I am often on two lane highways on curvy roads and have a short stretch to pass on a dashed yellow... and then a sharp curve! This is where the cruise, accelerate and coast is the opposite of ideal.

I think it does this in Engage mode as well but I will test it out ASAP!

Or you just hit the brake pedal to slow down. Or not pass someone with a sharp curve coming up.

 

[InTheHills]

Hit x (to stop cruise), pass and slow down, then hit resume (restart cruise) is probably going to be the smoothest.

I do not understand the technical strategy to this programing but I can get accustomed to these quirks.

 

[InTheHills]

Or not pass someone with a sharp curve coming up.

Unless you have been in this areas you would not understand. The options are to sit behind someone doing 10 under for an hour or pass when legal, which very often means a very short passing zone followed by a curve. This is an example that is very close to me. It is 8+ miles in either direction to the next passing zone. So you come around the curve, get to a point where you can verify there is no oncoming traffic, have less than a 1/2 mile to pass and slow down for a serious curve. And of course the complicating factor is that flat landers will go 5-15 under in the curves but then haul ass in any straight section. It is maddening!!!

 

[RickMachE]

My issue is that I am often on two lane highways on curvy roads and have a short stretch to pass on a dashed yellow... and then a sharp curve! This is where the cruise, accelerate and coast is the opposite of ideal.

I think it does this in Engage mode as well but I will test it out ASAP!

It doesn't matter what mode you are in, in Cruise Control there is no 1 pedal.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Unless you have been in this areas you would not understand. The options are to sit behind someone doing 10 under for an hour or pass when legal, which very often means a very short passing zone followed by a curve. This is an example that is very close to me. It is 8+ miles in either direction to the next passing zone. So you come around the curve, get to a point where you can verify there is no oncoming traffic, have less than a 1/2 mile to pass and slow down for a serious curve. And of course the complicating factor is that flat landers will go 5-15 under in the curves but then haul ass in any straight section. It is maddening!!!

You're going to have to take over and use the brake pedal in that situation to slow down after the pass. Unless you want to rely on the crappy curve speed control which will over-brake for curves. I do not give tapping the brake pedal a second thought if the car is not slowing down fast enough for me, it happens all the time. You just do it and click cruise back on again after the slowdown.

 

[InTheHills]

You're going to have to take over and use the brake pedal in that situation to slow down after the pass. Unless you want to rely on the crappy curve speed control which will over-brake for curves. I do not give tapping the brake pedal a second thought if the car is not slowing down fast enough for me, it happens all the time. You just do it and click cruise back on again after the slowdown.

For sure ill adapt.

I guess I was jsut posting to see if someone could help me understand this technical strategy by Ford. To me it would make more sense that a button, or pedal in this case, always does the same thing. If I am in One Pedal then it should not matter if cruise had been set or not, when I let off the accelerator it should slow the car. In cruise it should slow to the set speed.

Do you have any idea why they might chose this strategy where the pedal acts differently because of cruise?

 

[Mach-Lee]

For sure ill adapt.

I guess I was jsut posting to see if someone could help me understand this technical strategy by Ford. To me it would make more sense that a button, or pedal in this case, always does the same thing. If I am in One Pedal then it should not matter if cruise had been set or not, when I let off the accelerator it should slow the car. In cruise it should slow to the set speed.

Do you have any idea why they might chose this strategy where the pedal acts differently because of cruise?

The coasting behavior in Whisper is for efficiency. It's actually very clever and I like it. Again, if you make a pass, instead of wasting that energy trying to regen you can just gradually coast back down to set speed.

Engage and Unbridle give proportionally more regen after coming off a pass with cruise engaged, but they aren't super abrupt. When cruise is engaged and people take their foot off the pedal, they don't want to be abruptly jerked forward with regen, plus it would be confusing if cruise control was actually engaged if the pedal acted as if it were not. A lot of this strategy is also based on years of ICE programing, where coming off throttle in cruise would use engine braking to slow the car down. The amount of deceleration with engine braking is limited. So I think to provide some parity with ICE vehicles they chose a similar level to engine braking in Engage. Which is what people coming from ICE expect.

And because Ford uses blended braking (brake pedal can trigger any combination of regen or friction braking) they’ve kinda adopted the manta “If the driver wants more deceleration, they can just push the brake pedal”. Verses other EVs that have paddles for additional regen or like Teslas and Rivians where the brake pedal is purely friction brakes so all the regen has to be triggered from the right pedal.

I do wish Ford had an “extra” regen mode, but Unbridle is as close as you can get to that currently. But based on your driving style and preferences I don’t think you should use Whisper.

 

[InTheHills]

The coasting behavior in Whisper is for efficiency. It's actually very clever and I like it. Again, if you make a pass, instead of wasting that energy trying to regen you can just gradually coast back down to set speed.

Engage and Unbridle give proportionally more regen after coming off a pass with cruise engaged, but they aren't super abrupt. When cruise is engaged and people take their foot off the pedal, they don't want to be abruptly jerked forward with regen, plus it would be confusing if cruise control was actually engaged if the pedal acted as if it were not. A lot of this strategy is also based on years of ICE programing, where coming off throttle in cruise would use engine braking to slow the car down. The amount of deceleration with engine braking is limited. So I think to provide some parity with ICE vehicles they chose a similar level to engine braking in Engage. Which is what people coming from ICE expect.

And because Ford uses blended braking (brake pedal can trigger any combination of regen or friction braking) they’ve kinda adopted the manta “If the driver wants more deceleration, they can just push the brake pedal”. Verses other EVs that have paddles for additional regen or like Teslas and Rivians where the brake pedal is purely friction brakes so all the regen has to be triggered from the right pedal.

I do wish Ford had an “extra” regen mode, but Unbridle is as close as you can get to that currently. But based on your driving style and preferences I don’t think you should use Whisper.

You win the day! This is the most thoughtful and informed answer. Thank you.

 

[James III]

On highway driving I always use Adaptive Cruise Control when I get a good auto controlled steering (UK hands-on required). That is only when camera picks up road marking both side of the lane. To slow down quicker after acceleration to pass, or approaching curve, or roundabout, I simply temporarily engage ‘L’ button on the selector switch. The amount of speed reduction depends on drive mode. It works a charm usually without using the brakes. L actually engages some regen similar to OPD.

Regarding using OPD, I highly suggest try doing the same drive same conditions using it and not using it, and compare your mls/kW!

Speaking from experience since April 2021 I’ve done this many many times over the past three years rate is consistently better without OPD on my AWD ER. in all sorts of driving.
Only occasionally I see a better rate with OPD around town with a lot of stopping starting over five or 6 miles.

The other problem with using OPD is especially on earlier models there is a consistent problem confirmed with scoring of the right rear brake disc.

One way to help this is to occasionally do hard breaking from 60 mph from N as advised by several Ford EV technicians.

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