Brake Light Activation Poll

[SANZC02]

do you know if Rivian uses the 0.7 or the 1.3 to determine when the lights are activated.

I do not know for certain, by the seat of my pants it seems like the Rivian lights are about the same as my Tesla. 1m/s2 is around .1 g so my best guess is they are triggering the lights in that middle range.

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[mkg3]

I was following a Model X yesterday on the freeway and the vehicle must have had the regen set to Standard and the driver taking the foot off completely every time..

When a driver takes his/her foot off the accelerator (go) pedal without feathering the pressure, the brake light came on. In traffic, it creates a very erratic driving motion because the vehicle slows down more suddenly/heavily than expected, regardless of when the brake lights come on.

Personally, I am not a fan of one pedal driving, except in stop and go traffic (I, too, grew up driving all manual gearbox vehicles and still love them, except in stop and go traffic). I find that the ability to coast provides much better range and smoother cruise for road trips. I have experimented the range results in Model 3. Chill mode with standard and low regen yields different energy consumption of 10~12% or so at 75~80 MPH in favor for chill with low regen mode.

It's my understanding that EV6 has steering wheel paddle to increase/decrease the level of regen on the fly. That would be great to be able to control the amount of regen as desired.

Last, I've read couple articles talking about regen braking versus kinetic braking by Porsche and McLaren. Porsche says coasting and low regen results in better range and driving experience (I agree), and McLaren does not implement regen on Artura at all as the driving experience is compromised.

 

[mikehmb]

What regen inarguably does is prevent brake wear. For that reason alone, on a 7k lb truck, I’m personally all-in for regen.

What I really want is it to be tied to the brake pedal. Totally get why many people don’t like 1-pedal driving (full disclosure - I love it). I think many here - if not all - would like selectability in how regen is applied.

Re: energy recapture - Without a way to measure the energy recaptured, it’s hard to say. I have gotten ~1kWh back from long descents, though. Steep mountain road coming home.

 

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

on the way home last night I noticed it was bad enough that the car behind started leaving more space because the lights weren't coming on until I came to a complete stop in stop and go traffic

I don't have enough experience to say one way or the other, but the rate & frequency seems fine to me. If it causes, as you say "people behind you to leave more space" I'm all for that. Just speaking as someone who's been rear-ended many times, people in general need to slow down and leave more space. Ironically I've put reflective caution tape, "Caution this vehicle makes frequent stops" magnets, and even brush guards and bumper bars on the backs of my previous trucks, and the idiot drivers in my area still manage to run into the back of me.

Funny how I was driving a Chevy and nearly every time was hit by some clod texting & driving in a Ford F150. It's like Fords have it out for me. ??

I have these items on the back of my Chevy, currently:

I live in one of the worst traffic congestion regions of the country, outside of somewhere like New York or LA. Need to figure out a good way to mount them on the Rivian!

 

[eemri]

Rivian doesn't do blended braking.

Exactly. It's not that Porsche doesn't do regen, it's that they've managed to have the brake pedal handle all forms of deceleration, and they do it really well. I think they target/estimate ~80% of all deceleration via the brake pedal is done via regen.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Exactly. It's not that Porsche doesn't do regen, it's that they've managed to have the brake pedal handle all forms of deceleration, and they do it really well. I think they target/estimate ~80% of all deceleration via the brake pedal is done via regen.

Polestar has everything perfected IMO.
With OPD on if you're regen limited for any reason, it will bring in the mechanical brakes too, so the pedal feel in OPD is consistent. In certain situations there's still more regen available that you get access to through the brake pedal before it blends mechanical brakes in.

With OPD off, the brake pedal only uses regen until you're at the regen limit, then it blends in the mechanical brakes.

There's another portion of the display that shows how much mechanical brake you're using on top of the regen being used. They also have creep mode for the people that want it. (I hate it)

 

[jollyroger]

I think DOT regulations prevent that because there would be no separation between the left/right lights. On another note, I'm pretty disappointed that Rivian didn't include amber turn signals in the rear. As small as the brake lights are using one of them for a turn signal means even less visibility when braking.

Now that I do agree with rear amber turn signals are proven to improve safety. I understand car makers fight against it being a regulation as it increases customer cost and it makes the back of their cars look ugly

 

[jakef801]

I would not want mine to come on earlier. I really dislike it when people ride their brakes, which often makes it more difficult to tell the difference between when they are essentially coasting to a stop versus when they are more actively braking.

To me, moving the threshold of when the lights activate works to dilute their effect, because the brake lights are illuminated over a wider range of deceleration rates, including rates that really shouldn’t count as active braking.

Agree with this. I hate when it looks like I'm riding my brakes. I frequently look at the dash screen icon and cringe when the brake lights come on when I'm gently coasting to a stop or decelerating. It really bugs me when people come racing up to a stop light and slam the brakes at the last second.

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