Not liking one pedal driving

[_R1S_]

I currently have a Tesla Model 3, 2020, waiting on my Rivian. I love the one pedal driving, but if you have tried it and feel, that for you it is a safety issue---most definitely contact them.

I see more sideways Model Ys on the slopes that any other car. One pedal driving? I don't know, but instinctually, one lifts off when the car starts sliding. Which puts the car into a bigger slide if the conditions are just right. like lift off midway through a corner at speed.

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[NY LI'er]

I am on the side of loving the regen braking. It definitely took time to get used to it. Our first EV was Audi Etron which had the toggles on the steering wheel to engage and disengage. Our second was the Y, which most of you know has fairly strong one pedal driving regen, which once I got used to, loved the fact that I did not have to use the physical brakes, and to recoup at least some of the kinetic energy.

As to the Rivian, I drive with high regen setting, which is similar to the Y.

One thing that I do not like is regen while going reverse. I wonder why that was instituted on the rivian. It's not like there is much kinetic energy to be captured while parallel parking or pulling out of the driveway. I am still trying to get used to that.

 

[Redline]

You are not hearing the sound of calipers clicking in - unless you have a major defect. Calipers/brake pads don’t click in, they move continuously. Automatic braking in an EV simulates you pressing on the brake pedal inside the brake controller. All it is doing is applying hydraulic pressure, exactly the same as if you were pressing the brake.

as mentioned above (unless you have a serious defect) the sound you are hearing is suspension related, presumably automatic ride height adjustment. Lock the ride height in and that sound will likely go away.

I was just thinking about this as I drove this am. I hear some clicking in the back and I was almost 100% sure it's the compressor and suspension. I don't have a height locked in, so I might have to give that a try.

 

[NY LI'er]

I was just thinking about this as I drove this am. I hear some clicking in the back and I was almost 100% sure it's the compressor and suspension. I don't have a height locked in, so I might have to give that a try.

"Lock" the ride height? Would someone explain? Just picked up the R1S and still figuring out the vehicle. Thank you.

 

[Redline]

"Lock" the ride height? Would someone explain? Just picked up the R1S and still figuring out the vehicle. Thank you.

As in not using Auto ride height

 

[NY LI'er]

Got it. Choosing a specific height, rather than on auto. Thank you.

 

[SoCal Rob]

Whatever dude. I've been racing cars a long time. I know what the sound of pads moving fore and aft in a six piston caliper sound like.

No, the friction brakes are not applied during manual one pedal driving.

As I said, if one pedal driving by itself did use the friction brakes, Rivian wouldn’t need to provide the on-screen warning and alert sound when full regen isn’t available. Why? Because stopping distances would not increase if the vehicle used friction brakes to make up for loss of regen stopping power when it was unavailable. Seriously, you can prove this to yourself by having a passenger video the pedals while driving with one pedal manual driving so you can see the only time the brake pedal moves is when Hold is activated.

You can engage in constructive discussion and use data to figure out what’s going on or you can be argumentative and dismissive by relying on experience which does NOT apply to a Rivian. You’re more likely to get help if you choose the former.

 

[mkg3]

My observation of how people feel about the regen and one pedal driving is that people place priority for notion of recovering energy during driving, than driving dynamics.

The ability to coast actually reduces the total energy consumption more than the amount of energy recovery by regen kicking in constantly, whenever the throttle is slightly lifted. Albeit, tribal knowledge, I've tested this on my Tesla and efficiency and the range goes up over the long distances (since Rivian doesn't have "low regen" except in off road and snow modes).

From driving dynamics standpoint, the ability to coast would help (it would be the equivalent of double clutching while downshifting and braking as one approaches a corner, then letting the weight transfer settle prior to entering the corner).

Instead, the current level of "standard" regen always transfer the weight forward too much and one enters the corner too nose heavy. Clearly, one can power your way out of the corner but with AWD, it wants to behave more like FWD through the corner than RWD. Also this way of driving is not appropriate for everyday street driving.

I hope, one day, Rivian will map the amount of Regen to one of the steering wheel roller/toggle control so that we can adjust the amount of regen on the fly - like many EVs have today.

 

[SoCal Rob]

Got it. Choosing a specific height, rather than on auto. Thank you.

Just so you know, unless it’s broken, the air suspension will not remain static while the vehicle is ready to drive if there are changes in the ride height at one or more corners for any reason.

So, using a specific height will not eliminate the possibility of valve and compressor noise. The vehicle will stay at the chosen ride height and it may still need to adjust to maintain that height as weight is shifted (cornering, braking, accelerating), weight is added (passengers or cargo in), or weight is removed (passengers or cargo out).

As an example, if you’re slowing while going downhill and a lot of weight is shifted to the front for long enough, the vehicle should add air to the front air springs to bring the height back up to what was selected. Then, when you stop decelerating and/or stop going downhill the weight will equalize front/rear so air has to be released from the front air springs to bring the front back down to the ride height selected.

 

[JBo1828]

Using OPD and the regenerative braking does take a little time and a tiny bit of coordination. If someone has had the car more than a week and hasn’t mastered it (to the point where you never use the brake like AT ALL), I would surmise that they are lacking the latter. For that reason only, they probably should have a more traditional brake-experience setting, but I absolutely love it. Had my R1S a few months and maybe touched the brake pedal a handful of times.

 

[SoCal Rob]

Using OPD and the regenerative braking does take a little time and a tiny bit of coordination. If someone has had the car more than a week and hasn’t mastered it (to the point where you never use the brake like AT ALL), I would surmise that they are lacking the latter. For that reason only, they probably should have a more traditional brake-experience setting, but I absolutely love it. Had my R1S a few months and maybe touched the brake pedal a handful of times.

I completely agree, though where I live means I often have to use the friction brakes when leaving home because I live near the top of a fairly steep 900’ hill. Depending on conditions (battery SoC, temperatures, etc.) regen may be reduced or unavailable so I just to use the friction brakes when getting close to the bottom of the hill if I get the warning. Other than that, I almost never touch the brake pedal.

I’m not the most coordinated person, but I’ve driven quite a few cars with a manual transmission so being smooth while using finer control of the accelerator didn’t seem too foreign to me.

 

[JBo1828]

That’s a good analogy… I would say it takes about as much coordination or skill as being able to drive a manual car without being jerky.

I completely agree, though where I live means I often have to use the friction brakes when leaving home because I live near the top of a fairly steep 900’ hill. Depending on conditions (battery SoC, temperatures, etc.) regen may be reduced or unavailable so I just to use the friction brakes when getting close to the bottom of the hill if I get the warning. Other than that, I almost never touch the brake pedal.

I’m not the most coordinated person, but I’ve driven quite a few cars with a manual transmission so being smooth while using finer control of the accelerator didn’t seem too foreign to me.

 

[moosetags]

We took Factory Delivery of Opal (our R1T) in April of this year. We spent about a week in the area trying Opal out in Central Illinois. We visited most of the towns within 100 miles of Normal. This gave us the opportunity to become familiar with Opal's regenerative braking system. We started off in the high regen setting. We found this difficult to use. We set her back at standard regen and quickly got used to the one pedal driving. It became so comfortable that we switched back up to the high regen setting within a couple of days. Once we learned how to control the accelerator pedal, we had it figured out. We have been in high regen ever since.

SuEllyn drove Opal the entire 1,000 miles back home while I followed in the Silverado and Airstream. She only had to use Opal's brake pedal once when someone cut her off to exit from the Interstate. Now Opal travels around the Florida Panhandle with rare touches to her brake pedal.

We feel that Opal's one pedal driving has made us both better drivers. We are paying more attention to the traffic and our surroundings. We have also found that we have had no trouble switching back and forth between Opal and Vivian (our Silverado).

Brian

 

[zefram47]

My observation of how people feel about the regen and one pedal driving is that people place priority for notion of recovering energy during driving, than driving dynamics.

The ability to coast actually reduces the total energy consumption more than the amount of energy recovery by regen kicking in constantly, whenever the throttle is slightly lifted. Albeit, tribal knowledge, I've tested this on my Tesla and efficiency and the range goes up over the long distances (since Rivian doesn't have "low regen" except in off road and snow modes).

From driving dynamics standpoint, the ability to coast would help (it would be the equivalent of double clutching while downshifting and braking as one approaches a corner, then letting the weight transfer settle prior to entering the corner).

Fixed regen (assuming you doing get limited from high SoC or temperature on hills) is actually better than having to fumble to change it depending on your situation. I lift off the throttle a certain amount and get a predictable amount of braking every time. Much like your muscle memory on the brake pedal of an ICE. Want to see what I mean...try braking with your left foot in an ICE car for the first time and you'll damn near smash your face into the wheel/window because your left foot isn't calibrated to braking. You want less regen or you want to coast...just lift slightly on the throttle. I often come to a stop without the brake lights illuminating because I mostly coast or am close to it (but the brake light actuation is a separate argument). It all comes down to developing appropriate muscle memory.

Back when I bought my MINI EV I initially hated the high regen because it felt like too much. I forced myself to adapt over the course of a couple days and have zero issue with it. That said, I use cruise control in road situations that allow to give my foot a break *because* there's no coast when lifting completely off the throttle. That said, I have zero desire to give up one-pedal driving because it's far quicker to respond to various situations and gives you better control once used to it. I have yet to drive an EV with blended braking that felt even remotely competent at the task. All had a squishy brake pedal where it was impossible to know when you'd get friction brakes. With Rivian's setup, I know 100% that if I hit the brake pedal it will react the same way *every* time.

That’s a good analogy… I would say it takes about as much coordination or skill as being able to drive a manual car without being jerky.

Exactly. Anyone who's driven a manual should have no issue with OPD at all.

 

[RivAW]

I am not liking OPD in my new Rivian. I wish I could turn it off. I know that it saves energy but for me it is dangerous and annoying.
I have about 1200 miles and 2 weeks in my Rivian. The OPD will really throw you forward in your seat if you let all the way up while doing 25 mph or so. I breaks so hard that I worry about the car behind me hitting me. If I let up while looking to the left to clear for a merge it makes my head bob and is very disorienting.
It makes my passengers have a much less smooth ride. I am the smoothest driver in my family and seldom make anyone motion sick on the curvy roads to our lake cabin. But not with OPD, I just about made myself sick last weekend.
When I get back in a normal vehicle I get surprised the first stop I come to before I switch my mind back to normal driving. There are so many new things to get used in a new vehicle this just makes it that much harder.

I figured I would get used to it but I don't seem to be making any progress.

I am thinking of calling my guide and putting in a feature request but though I would get some feedback here first.

Maybe should have done some research before jumping in as an EV early adopter. All of them use OPD and regenerative breaking and I doubt any one of them would seriously consider a feature to turn that off completely....self accountability...

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