Not liking one pedal driving

[RayzorBEV]

I absolutely love the OPD on my Rivian's, way better than on my Tesla's. OPD reminds me of driving an electric Go-Karts.

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[SparkyR1t]

Have you tried driving in snow mode. The reduced regenerative braking maybe a bit more suitable for you

 

[Mathme]

The Rivian is my first full-time BEV and although we've had the Tesla Roadster in the family for several years, when I got the Rivian it a short while to adjust to the sensitivity in the pedal. I quickly transferred the concept of feathering the pedal like you do when driving a manual transmission.

I also figure that OPD in a BEV will be slightly unique to each individual vehicle -- much like clutches are unique in each manual transmission out there. Even if you're familiar with the concept, when you move to a difference vehicle, it'll take a few moments to become familiar with that unique vehicle.

 

[mkg3]

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.



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

Clearly, lifting throttle off incrementally is compulsory and necessary. I cannot imagine anyone just taking their foot off completely all the time when driving Rivian or any other EV.

Having driven EVs for almost 6 yrs, I know the difference between backing off throttle versus actual coasting. I still stand by my original comment on this issue.

I still prefer manual transmission over automatics, from engaging driving enjoyment. Unlike many, I actually have no interest in Driver+, autopilot or any autonomous driving aides. I rarely use cruise control, even on long road trips.

As for left-foot braking, I'd learn to do that years ago, when I used to drive Saab 900 and use it occasionally on amateur rallies, along with heel-toeing, and use of hand brake. Talk about muscle memory....

 

[Nuclianba]

It's been said, but my only issue with OPD is getting in my garage, which has 6" of back/front clearance total. So I have to feather it to just the right place (I use the hanging tennis ball). The comparison to manual transmission is right...with an ICE auto transmission I can let the car creep forward and hit the brake at the right moment. And if I flinch my oopsie is a hard stop. On the Rivian (or a manual ICE) a little flinch and I've done a worse oopsie...

 

[Taichi]

Going to throw my .02 since I read this thread before taking delivery last friday. The first day of OPD was pretty rough, but by Sunday evening it almost felt second nature. My previous DD was a manual transmission and I think that general idea helped with modulating the accelerator.

Still struggling with backing into spots or any sort of slow turning though. Sometimes it seems like it'll creep but other times it just stops dead and I end up bouncing trying to feather the gas. Not sure how but there should be some sort of creep in low speed reversing.

 

[zefram47]

Still struggling with backing into spots or any sort of slow turning though. Sometimes it seems like it'll creep but other times it just stops dead and I end up bouncing trying to feather the gas. Not sure how but there should be some sort of creep in low speed reversing.

Unfortunately this has more to do with the brake hold feature rather than regen and can't be turned off in anything other than Off-Road Rock Crawl mode.

 

[Taichi]

Unfortunately this has more to do with the brake hold feature rather than regen and can't be turned off in anything other than Off-Road Rock Crawl mode.

A way to turn off the brake hold would be great, both my sister's and mother's new car have a button for it. I like the hold at a red light, but anything stop-and-go or those low speed maneuvers shouldn't have it engaged.

 

[VikingMD]

I have only driven my vehicle for approximately 800 miles so take my opinion with that grain of salt.

I feel that the one foot driving in the vehicle is more difficult than my wife's Tesla. You have to really feather the pedal gently otherwise the transitions from acceleration to braking feels abrupt.

My second concern is regarding safety. If the instrument cluster representation of when my brake lights are active is accurate, then often when regenerative braking is active but my foot is still on the accelerator no brake lights light up. This puts me at risk of being rear ended because the person behind doesn't know that effectively I am braking.

 

[godfodder0901]

I have only driven my vehicle for approximately 800 miles so take my opinion with that grain of salt.

I feel that the one foot driving in the vehicle is more difficult than my wife's Tesla. You have to really feather the pedal gently otherwise the transitions from acceleration to braking feels abrupt.

My second concern is regarding safety. If the instrument cluster representation of when my brake lights are active is accurate, then often when regenerative braking is active but my foot is still on the accelerator no brake lights light up. This puts me at risk of being rear ended because the person behind doesn't know that effectively I am braking.

Not really any different than engine braking in a manual transmission car. Manual transmission cars don't get rear-ended at a higher rate than cars without manual transmissions.

 

[VikingMD]

Not really any different than engine braking in a manual transmission car. Manual transmission cars don't get rear-ended at a higher rate than cars with manual transmissions.

Respectfully disagree it is way more forceful than engine braking unless you were to do something very aggressive like drop it from 6th gear to second in a manual.

 

[godfodder0901]

Respectfully disagree it is way more forceful than engine braking unless you were to do something very aggressive like drop it from 6th gear to second in a manual.

Right, at the maximum. But at the levels the brake light turns off, the deceleration is severly reduced when compared to the max.

 

[shandel]

I personally LOVE the one pedal driving and have a hard time going back to regular vehicles now. It's so much more intuitive this way. And I haven't had an issue with parking in the garage or backing up...

 

[_R1S_]

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.

so then how does the car bring itself to a stop? do the electric motors operate in reverse? No. It engages the brakes, without me touching the brake pedal. Show me some code, or some legitimate data that proves your point.

 

[A Land Rover Forever]

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