Can One-Pedal Driving induce hydroplaning?

[Mr. Toejam]

Agreed, but it’s an interesting point about 1PD that many (myself included) probably wouldn’t think of. Knowing this now, I’ll turn off 1PD during freeway driving in the rain… (Bay Area roads are about the same shitshow was LA roads.?)

True on the roads. I try to say south of imperial highway. Basically keeps me in OC.

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[kindofblue]

I was driving through Los Angeles on Feb 24 during one of our largest and longest rain storms in a long time. Before everyone that isn't from So Cal starts saying "stop crying about your little weather problems" or "LA people can't handle a little bad weather"...keep in mind, we average 2-3 inches of rain per month is our "wet" areas during Jan-March. Jan saw 8 inches and the last 3 days in Feb will probably come in around 9 inches. Our infrastructure to handle that much rain in such a short period just isn't there and the highways simply do not drain the water off fast enough. LA freeways are notorious for puddling and because we don't get much rain, we end up with dirty-oily roads. And....people in LA don't know how to slow down.

Anyway, I was on the freeway and there was enough rain that speeds were down to around 50-55 mph. Limit is 65 and that means the normal speed is around 75. I was in the carpool lane and I a pickup truck about 200 yards ahead of me spin out and hit the center divider and stop in the carpool lane. I lift off of the accelerator (1-pedal and Engaged mode). Doing so, the car starts to slow and immediately the car starts vibrating. The car is hydroplaning and since it did not slow down, the Anti-lock breaks kicked in. Fortunately, I was on a straight section and the car stayed straight. I applied a little throttle, the vibration stopped, and I was able to pull out of the lane and get around the truck by about 50-75 feet still doing around 40-50mph. I don't remember if the collision alert kick-in...it all happened pretty quick. Forturnately the lane next too me was open but unfortunately, I could not stop because there was enough traffic that me stopping would have been a disaster. I don't remember hearing or feeling like I just ran into puddling water. This one was a 2 out of 5 on the sphincter-pucker scale. (20+ years ago, I had a 5 out of 5 with one of my old Mustang GTs in the rain, but I earned that one...young and dumb.)

In our ICE vehicle, I would lift off the accelerator, let the car slowly decelerate and slowly pull the the right. Just like snow, the last thing you want to do is something sudden and upset the balance of the vehicle.

1) Maybe I hit the same puddle the truck hit, though it didn't feel like it. And I hit other puddles of standing water and did not lose control and the care never felt loose. The truck that spun out was probably doing 65-70 when he passed me. I remember thinking, "...you're going to lose it...." and then he did.
2) Maybe I hit a transition from asphalt to concrete and that upset the car. Our freeways are a mess.
3) Maybe I did hit the brake pedal. Just unlikely. Stabbing the brakes is not my method of driving. I consider myself pretty a smooth driver, especially when it comes to braking.
4) ...maybe 50-55PHM was still too fast. 2 inches of rain in an hour is a lot.

After that, I shut off 1-pedal. On the remainder of my drive, I hit large(r) and longer puddles of standing water and varying surface conditions and was still driving 50-55 mph. I never hydroplaned and when I lifted on the accelerator, no drama. A 5500 lbs car and the bicycle tires it comes with, you would think this thing would slice through puddles with ease, but that was not the case earlier in the day.

Has anyone else run into this and do people who normally get a lot of rain or snow turn off 1-pedal in bad weather?

Thanks for your report. I too will turn off one pedal driving in driving rain conditions like we're having here in CA recently.

 

[Mr. Toejam]

Page 242

WHISPER
Whisper mode is for relaxed driving and
adverse weather conditions. This is the
best mode for driving in slippery conditions.
This mode decreases accelerator response
at partial inputs. Steering tunes for
comfort. When you release the accelerator
pedal, your vehicle slowly decelerates
allowing for a more comfortable ride. The
interior sound turns off and the ambient
lights and cluster graphics are set to blue
with a graphic that starts to illuminate blue
as you drive efficiently at consistent
speeds.

OK. Thanks
I usually stop reading around 241 pages. ?

 

[Mach-Lee]

If you’re worried about hydroplaning, check your tire tread depth (above 4/32”, quarter test) and pressure (inflate to 39 psi spec). Worn tires, low tire pressure, and driving too fast cause hydroplaning.

As someone who drives on snow and ice, I also use Whisper with 1PD. If you hit ice during 1PD decel, it will cut regen in and out and use ABS if necessary. It feels and sounds scary, but is normal. If conditions are really bad, then I’ll switch to Whisper 2PD which has zero coasting regen like an ICE.

 

[Mr. Toejam]

I use unbridled 1-p all the time..... max regen (0% throttle) is about 100 kw of braking.... which is substantial, and could quite likely break traction on a slick road or deep puddle.

If you are in 1-pd and lose traction, you do NOT want to lift foot off throttle completely, you should lift *slightly* to create zero or light braking... It's a big difference from ICE training, and takes a while to change habits.

Once you get used to it.... 1-p is great on snow, ice and wet because you don't lose the time to move your foot from throtle to brake pedal. When I am in snow, ice, or monsoon rain, I usually have my phone displaying CarScanner dashboard display to I can SEE my output/regen power in kw and find zero/gentle braking as needed. this is one of the primary reasons I wanted to be able to see output/regen power (in kw for accuracy) on the dashboard. Since Ford didn't put it on the instrument panel, I put it up on CarScanner Display when I'm driving in bad conditions especially.

another screen to look at in tough conditions. Ha, I’ll pass. But point taken.

 

[dtbaker61]

another screen to look at in tough conditions. Ha, I’ll pass. But point taken.

The kW dial is pretty easy to see out of the corner of the eye since I have it mounted at eye level just to the right of steering wheel. This image was taken with an early dial layout I was trying.... I ended up preferring the larger display of kW as shown in previous post.

 

[Mr. Toejam]

If you’re worried about hydroplaning, check your tire tread depth (above 4/32”, quarter test) and pressure (inflate to 39 psi spec). Worn tires, low tire pressure, and driving too fast cause hydroplaning.

As someone who drives on snow and ice, I also use Whisper with 1PD. If you hit ice during 1PD decel, it will cut regen in and out and use ABS if necessary. It feels and sounds scary, but is normal. If conditions are really bad, then I’ll switch to Whisper 2PD which has zero coasting regen like an ICE.

Tires good. Pressure checked the night before. Reading skills…ehh. Thanks for the advice. Sounds like you have the experience in non-So Cal conditions. I’ll take it!

and for your other expertise…best cheese curd?

 

[Mr. Toejam]

The kW dial is pretty easy to see out of the corner of the eye since I have it mounted at eye level just to the right of steering wheel. This image was taken with an early dial layout I was trying.... I ended up preferring the larger display of kW as shown in previous post.

In So Cal, driving defensively means watching out for the lunatic next to you…like the truck whipping by me. I had my carscanner running while parked and a local police office walked by. He said nice car and I was showing him around the car but he reminded me that if my phone is running and in my line of sight I would probably get pulled over. he said a map is ok but anyything deemed a distraction could be an issue. He noticed my tinted windows but said he would be ok with them. Another officer, maybe not. He was being pretty chill. Not sure if running car scanner while driving is legal, but I’d rather not get pulled over.

 

[Dustus]

This is a good question as I wonder how does one petal react to hydroplaning? I've noticed that driving over a speed bump or similar while in one petal makes the car jerky like it can't figure out weather to go faster or slower as the tires are losing pressure with the ground. Same thing one day I bumped a curb as I was backing out of a parking spot and in my ice car I'm pretty sure it would have just stopped when it hit, but the mach-e seemed to take it as a challenge and without me doing anything powered over the curb to my dismay. So I'm not convinced that if the car hit a hydroplaning situation that the one petal would react like we think it would. That computer brain could react like it does to a speed bump and apply more power to compensate. I wouldn't trust that it would just slow down like an ice car would when taking your foot off the accelerator in odd conditions. Could be why Ford recommends using whisper.

 

[JohnFoxeSheets]

This is a good question as I wonder how does one petal react to hydroplaning? I've noticed that driving over a speed bump or similar while in one petal makes the car jerky like it can't figure out weather to go faster or slower as the tires are losing pressure with the ground. Same thing one day I bumped a curb as I was backing out of a parking spot and in my ice car I'm pretty sure it would have just stopped when it hit, but the mach-e seemed to take it as a challenge and without me doing anything powered over the curb to my dismay. So I'm not convinced that if the car hit a hydroplaning situation that the one petal would react like we think it would. That computer brain could react like it does to a speed bump and apply more power to compensate. I wouldn't trust that it would just slow down like an ice car would when taking your foot off the accelerator in odd conditions. Could be why Ford recommends using whisper.

This is an interesting theory. I frequently drive in a specific area where one wheel reliably leaves the ground (at low speed) and I need to turn 1PD off before I do or when the free-wheel once again touches the ground it burns rubber. 2PD doesn't have this issue. So yeah, there could be something odd like that going on...

 

[HuntingPudel]

Just an anecdotal note. I drove through a snow storm at temperatures 20F lower than allowed for my Summer tires in Unbridled/2PD. No traction issues, but that is probably because I was afraid of damaging the tires in the cold weather, so I never exceeded 35 on I-5 (and was mostly under 30 with one eye in the mirror). ??

 

[Mr. Toejam]

so from this thread and others, I have concluded that
1) sometimes 1- pedal stinks
2) sometimes CarPlay stinks
3) sometimes GOM stinks
4) sometimes range stinks
5) sometimes charging speed stinks
6) and most of the time electrify America stinks (though it really hasn’t been too bad for me)

But in the true spirit of being an EV owner (and like most Tesla owners)… this is still the best car I have ever owned, and I love it.

thanks for the input everyone. In the rain, it is whisper/2-pedal and a little slower for me Moving forward

 

[Ron Bonifas]

so from this thread and others, I have concluded that
1) sometimes 1- pedal stinks
2) sometimes CarPlay stinks
3) sometimes GOM stinks
4) sometimes range stinks
5) sometimes charging speed stinks
6) and most of the time electrify America stinks (though it really hasn’t been too bad for me)

But in the true spirit of being an EV owner (and like most Tesla owners)… this is still the best car I have ever owned, and I love it.

thanks for the input everyone. In the rain, it is whisper/2-pedal and a little slower for me Moving forward

I drive a rear drive CR1 (not eAWD) so regen is supplied only by the rear tires. Even on dry roads
the rears can slip and activate ABS if sand or gravel is on road surface and the accel pedal is abruptly released. Putting in 2 pedal is even more advisable if not accustom to tendency because by the time you get your foot to brake pedal to apply front friction brakes it maybe too late. Likely why the seemingly silly little 1( foot on pedal )is displayed at bottom of cluster.

 

[sibonium]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaplaning

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