BullittHitsTheBone
Active Member
- First Name
- Bob
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2025
- Threads
- 3
- Messages
- 33
- Reaction score
- 11
- Location
- California
- Vehicles
- 2025 Mach-E Premium
- Occupation
- Retired
- Thread starter
- #1
I've just returned from a round trip to San Francisco from my Central Valley hometown in my 2025 RWD Premium Mach-E, where I noticed a surprising, and somewhat unnerving, change in my driving behavior. This is in contrast to my driving 'style' in my 2019 Mustang Bullitt (a Mustang GT with 475HP, a 6-speed manual, 'bling delete' and a bespoke color). In the Mustangs--I previously daily'd a 2008 Bullitt--I've always been one to follow three or four car lengths behind on the freeway, as I'm adverse to using brakes except in hard cornering--I learned to drive in a Model A with cable brakes: 40-to-zero in a block-and-a-half-- and I'm adept at using engine braking (when I traded-in the '08 Bullitt at 124K miles for the '19 it still had the original clutch and 40% meat left on the OEM brake pads). But in the Mach-E I've gotten accustomed to, and am fond of, one-pedal driving and I've found myself following much closer, because I rarely needed to use the brakes. I know this was also partly due to most of the trip being in slow/stop-and-go traffic, and I got sick of people forcing their way in front of me (looking at you, Bimmer drivers; they don't so much cut you off, as they just start moving into your lane and dare you to hit them).
I read an article--I think it was on Jalopnik but I can't find it--that the Chinese government has mandated OP be OFF by default. This is apparently because there are a lot of 'new' drivers in China that have never driven anything other than EVs in OP mode and they aren't versed in braking besides re-gen, and may not actually know how to use standard braking properly (and hence cause more accidents). This almost bit me the other day as I was caught in an unexpected hard-stop situation on the freeway and felt I was a split-second slower to get on the brakes than I would have been in the Mustang GT. OP with regen braking is ideal in around town driving, but is less effective at highway speeds (somewhat better than engine braking with a manual gearbox, but not by much). Also, I watched the regen 'meter' and expected mileage going up and down the fairly steep Altamont Pass, and noted that I only 'broke even' on the downhill parts which, theoretically would extend range but likely not compensate for the extra energy usage pulling up the grade.
So, now I need to 'recalibrate' my driving style: Should I use the more rational, arguably safer 'GT-Style'--maximum energy management, engine braking mostly, leave large gaps and let the idiots jump me so I can pass them a half-mile up the road--in the Mach-E? This is the obvious choice but damn, them Bimmers.
I read an article--I think it was on Jalopnik but I can't find it--that the Chinese government has mandated OP be OFF by default. This is apparently because there are a lot of 'new' drivers in China that have never driven anything other than EVs in OP mode and they aren't versed in braking besides re-gen, and may not actually know how to use standard braking properly (and hence cause more accidents). This almost bit me the other day as I was caught in an unexpected hard-stop situation on the freeway and felt I was a split-second slower to get on the brakes than I would have been in the Mustang GT. OP with regen braking is ideal in around town driving, but is less effective at highway speeds (somewhat better than engine braking with a manual gearbox, but not by much). Also, I watched the regen 'meter' and expected mileage going up and down the fairly steep Altamont Pass, and noted that I only 'broke even' on the downhill parts which, theoretically would extend range but likely not compensate for the extra energy usage pulling up the grade.
So, now I need to 'recalibrate' my driving style: Should I use the more rational, arguably safer 'GT-Style'--maximum energy management, engine braking mostly, leave large gaps and let the idiots jump me so I can pass them a half-mile up the road--in the Mach-E? This is the obvious choice but damn, them Bimmers.
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