How to drive a Mach E in suburban city traffic

Cnote

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Is one pedal driving ok when you're trying to do close/slow maneouvers such as parking into your garage ?

I ask this because I saw on another thread how someone can't use 'auto hold' as it stops the 'crawl' you get with an automatic which means when you hit the accelerator pedal you move too quickly - which could slam your car into the garage wall!

I have never driven an auto - only manuals with a clutch until May when I get my mache.
I back into my garage and at first one pedal driving made it harder to do, but you just have to be really light on the pedal as you get closer to your stopping point. I do wish opd would turn off in reverse automatically so you can creep, but I've gotten used to it and learned how to modulate the pressure on the pedal.
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dbsb3233

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I'm beginning to get a better feel for the car and how to maximize mpk, but it's not what I expected. My first 500 miles were in whisper and I averaged 3.5mpk, which is fine, but not as good as I was expecting considering I was basically driving to maximize efficiency. I do drive a significant portion on the highway, and my neighborhood is quite hilly though.

My last 200 miles have been in engaged, and I averaged 3.9mpk. I was still driving for efficiency, but not focusing on it nearly as much, and definitely accelerating more aggressively. This led to some more aggressive breaking (in regen), which must have led to the better efficiency. So despite what I've read about coasting and slower acceleration being better, plus my real world experience with hybrids and PHEV gaining more MPG in this way, I'm starting to think the regen braking may be better in the Mach E for my driving style. I also shared an anecdote in another thread where I let my dad drive the hell out of the car for about 8 miles, and he got 6.9 MPK so I'm questioning things lol.

Obviously you had the opposite experience with the drive modes lol

I reset the trip computer tonight and starting tomorrow will be in unbridled for 100-200 miles to compare the heavier regen to the other modes. I definitely preferred engaged over whisper from an enjoyment perspective, so I'm looking forward to see how unbridled works out mpk-wise.
My first thought for both your and his experiences is to ask about the weather. Has the outside temp been warmer for the latter mode test than the former? That could explain why for both of you the latter test showed better MPK than the former.
 

dbsb3233

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My last 200 miles have been in engaged, and I averaged 3.9mpk. I was still driving for efficiency, but not focusing on it nearly as much, and definitely accelerating more aggressively. This led to some more aggressive breaking (in regen), which must have led to the better efficiency. So despite what I've read about coasting and slower acceleration being better, plus my real world experience with hybrids and PHEV gaining more MPG in this way, I'm starting to think the regen braking may be better in the Mach E for my driving style.
While the trip meter might deceivingly be displaying a number that suggests it, it would be impossible to recapture more energy from regen than the energy it took to get up to speed to begin with. That's just a basic law of physics.

Even highly efficient regen isn't fully 100% (and never >100%). Coasting will always be more efficient than higher use of power+regen (for the same average speed).
 


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While the trip meter might deceivingly be displaying a number that suggests it, it would be impossible to recapture more energy from regen than the energy it took to get up to speed to begin with. That's just a basic law of physics.

Even highly efficient regen isn't fully 100% (and never >100%). Coasting will always be more efficient than higher use of power+regen (for the same average speed).
That's true, but it may seem like >100%, when going downhill. In that case gravity is providing some of the power.
 

dbsb3233

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That's true, but it may seem like >100%, when going downhill. In that case gravity is providing some of the power.
Sure, but that's only because gravity is adding energy. That deceives the actual comparison here. It would still be relatively more efficient to coast down that hill than to apply a cycle of power then reger, power then regen, etc.
 

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I'm beginning to get a better feel for the car and how to maximize mpk, but it's not what I expected. My first 500 miles were in whisper and I averaged 3.5mpk, which is fine, but not as good as I was expecting considering I was basically driving to maximize efficiency. I do drive a significant portion on the highway, and my neighborhood is quite hilly though.

My last 200 miles have been in engaged, and I averaged 3.9mpk. I was still driving for efficiency, but not focusing on it nearly as much, and definitely accelerating more aggressively. This led to some more aggressive breaking (in regen), which must have led to the better efficiency. So despite what I've read about coasting and slower acceleration being better, plus my real world experience with hybrids and PHEV gaining more MPG in this way, I'm starting to think the regen braking may be better in the Mach E for my driving style. I also shared an anecdote in another thread where I let my dad drive the hell out of the car for about 8 miles, and he got 6.9 MPK so I'm questioning things lol.

Obviously you had the opposite experience with the drive modes lol

I reset the trip computer tonight and starting tomorrow will be in unbridled for 100-200 miles to compare the heavier regen to the other modes. I definitely preferred engaged over whisper from an enjoyment perspective, so I'm looking forward to see how unbridled works out mpk-wise.
I think there are a few other things to consider, and you touched on them already, and that is driving style and terrain.

When I first switched to whisper I could not help but notice how much the car seems to roll freely without any sort of "engine breaking" or regen in our case. That being said I decided to take advantage of it as much as possible by literally rolling and coasting as much as possible after getting up to speed, and basically half the time my foot never touches the accelerator. That being said, half the time I'm moving forward without applying any actual power beyond what's used getting up to speed. My neighborhood probably lends itself quite well to that, and perhaps in a different landscape it would not work as well.

But the main thing is that if you drive the car "normally", that is never letting off the accelerator until your coming to a stop, I think that would negate the main benefits of coasting and moving forward with little to no additional energy input since you're likely only moving forward a few meters before you begin to use your breaks to slow to a stop. In contrast I'm literally driving most of the time without touching the accelerator at all around my neighborhood.

To test that theory I decided to drive in Whisper mode more like how I would normally drive in engaged mode, and really only taking my foot off the accelerator just b4 needing to come to a stop. When driving the same route today I noticed much of the gains that I saw previously were negated, and instead of seeing the 9 or 10km per kwh I saw about 7ish to 8, which is much closer to what I get on that route when I drive "normally" in engaged.

In your Dad's case, driving the car aggressively while in Unbridled likely lends itself quite well to his style of driving, since he's likely getting up to decent speeds with high levels of regen when coming to a coast or over a shorter distance would push allot of power back into the pack. So basically that level of regen lends itself well to faster speeds where you can really get some revolutions on the motor which is trying to push way more amps back into the pack (hence the high rolling resistance).

So basically I think it comes down to understanding the benefits of each mode, and how to best capitalize on those different driving dynamics to maximize range given the different properties of each.
 

DaMeatMan

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My first thought for both your and his experiences is to ask about the weather. Has the outside temp been warmer for the latter mode test than the former? That could explain why for both of you the latter test showed better MPK than the former.

It's been about 12c - 15c here in Toronto over the past week where I got those results. But see my last post, I think it has more to do with driving style of the driver when in each mode, where one style of driving may negate much of the benefits of a particular drive mode.
 

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My first thought for both your and his experiences is to ask about the weather. Has the outside temp been warmer for the latter mode test than the former? That could explain why for both of you the latter test showed better MPK than the former.
I'm in SF so it never really gets cold here. I mean it might be 50 degrees in the morning when I leave home, but that's the coldest you'll ever really see during waking hours here (overnight it might get to low 40s a few times a year).
 

Ma9573

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I think there are a few other things to consider, and you touched on them already, and that is driving style and terrain.

When I first switched to whisper I could not help but notice how much the car seems to roll freely without any sort of "engine breaking" or regen in our case. That being said I decided to take advantage of it as much as possible by literally rolling and coasting as much as possible after getting up to speed, and basically half the time my foot never touches the accelerator. That being said, half the time I'm moving forward without applying any actual power beyond what's used getting up to speed. My neighborhood probably lends itself quite well to that, and perhaps in a different landscape it would not work as well.

But the main thing is that if you drive the car "normally", that is never letting off the accelerator until your coming to a stop, I think that would negate the main benefits of coasting and moving forward with little to no additional energy input since you're likely only moving forward a few meters before you begin to use your breaks to slow to a stop. In contrast I'm literally driving most of the time without touching the accelerator at all around my neighborhood.

To test that theory I decided to drive in Whisper mode more like how I would normally drive in engaged mode, and really only taking my foot off the accelerator just b4 needing to come to a stop. When driving the same route today I noticed much of the gains that I saw previously were negated, and instead of seeing the 9 or 10km per kwh I saw about 7ish to 8, which is much closer to what I get on that route when I drive "normally" in engaged.

In your Dad's case, driving the car aggressively while in Unbridled likely lends itself quite well to his style of driving, since he's likely getting up to decent speeds with high levels of regen when coming to a coast or over a shorter distance would push allot of power back into the pack. So basically that level of regen lends itself well to faster speeds where you can really get some revolutions on the motor which is trying to push way more amps back into the pack (hence the high rolling resistance).

So basically I think it comes down to understanding the benefits of each mode, and how to best capitalize on those different driving dynamics to maximize range given the different properties of each.
This is basically just a fun game for me, pitting the drive modes against each other in a winner take all battle royal! Lol

I definitely think if I went back to whisper now I could improve it to about 3.7-3.9. But I think the small city blocks in SF contribute to a lack of being able to fully realize benefits of coasting vs regen braking - you can barely get to 20mph with slow acceleration before needing to coast for a bit and then brake. I'm sure it would be way better in a more suburban city. Add to the fact I'm doing most of my highway driving on adaptive cruise and there's not much chance for the different modes to differentiate themselves there.

Today is my first day in unbridled and I'm already loving the added regen in the brakes. Doive from SF to Oakland to Santa Cruz and got 3.9mpk during the 90 miles of driving, 80 if which were highway. We'll see what I get on the drive up highway 1 to an EVGo charging station in Pacifica ?
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