Not liking one pedal driving

[Bigskyinminnie]

This will likely lead to many drivers behind a Rivian assuming they are being brake checked. Some people don't care about this but I definitely do. There should be a setting where the regen is just strong enough to slow the vehicle down but not enough to activate the brake lights. This is the setting I would use personally.

So a cool feature is your Rivian truck avatar shows whether the brake lights are on or off. If you let off accelerator lightly so regen is gradual, no brake light. Pull foot off gas quickly, brakes come on.

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[svet-am]

When I did my first mile event I noticed that the regen was very strong (much stronger than our XC40 Recharge) and I had the rivian employee in the car with me check it out. Turns out it was in strong/high mode. Perhaps set the regen to a more to a more gentle setting while the OP gets used to it ??

personally, I find regen actually makes me feel safer when I am driving the mountain passes of Colorado as well as in stop and go traffic on the freeway.

 

[rodhx]

So a cool feature is your Rivian truck avatar shows whether the brake lights are on or off. If you let off accelerator lightly so regen is gradual, no brake light. Pull foot off gas quickly, brakes come on.

Yep, that’s the way EVs work in general and have at least since the Tesla Roadster days (it was a thing well before the Model S). That’s a cool visual. I have noticed reflections on cars behind me, road signs, etc to see how the brake lights work under regen.

 

[cmedriveelectric]

This will likely lead to many drivers behind a Rivian assuming they are being brake checked. Some people don't care about this but I definitely do. There should be a setting where the regen is just strong enough to slow the vehicle down but not enough to activate the brake lights. This is the setting I would use personally.

The brake lights are not activated with every little movement of the pedal. My husband followed me for 10 miles the other day and he only noticed my brake lights being activated about 4 times. If you release the pedal at a fairly rapid rate the lights will activate.

 

[JGard18]

The brake lights are not activated with every little movement of the pedal. My husband followed me for 10 miles the other day and he only noticed my brake lights being activated about 4 times. If you release the pedal at a fairly rapid rate the lights will activate.

The cars use a G-meter to measure deceleration speed. If you lift off, but aren't slowing down beyond a certain threshold, they will not come on. Similar to any gas powered vehicle, really. You can let off on a car or motorcycle and slow down without brake lights, but it's just not a particularly rapid deceleration. This is more true in manual transmission vehicles than automatics

 

[cohall]

There should be a setting where the regen is just strong enough to slow the vehicle down but not enough to activate the brake lights. This is the setting I would use personally.

No setting needed. This is exactly how the system already works.

 

[Zybane]

I'm really not a fan of the way Rivian does regen. It's much too forceful in the lowest setting.

I'm NOT new to EVs but the R1T is the first one where the lowest regen setting will slam you back into your seat if you release the pedal.

It's a big miss and the setting should be more adjustable.

Eh? You're not supposed to "release the pedal" unless you want FULL regen braking. With one pedal braking, you modulate the braking amount by how much you let off the accelerator pedal. I thought this was common knowledge.

 

[PAFDenver]

I don't see any reason why the OP can't request Rivian to add another level to regen braking, maybe even turning it off. I LOVE it on my Tesla but have always driven manuals, so was pretty used to modulating speed by lifting off the gas. Other might also want less regen than the lowest level currently offered, it's just a SW setting. He has been trying to get used to it for 2 weeks now, so it sounds like he gave it a fair shake.
I do wonder if it would help to learn like my father talk me to work a clutch. Find an empty parking lot and just spend an hour or 2 starting and stopping to get a feel for the pedal. I hope it works out for the OP, since I also agree that regen braking is awesome and can't wait to actually have one pedal driving in the Rivian.

 

[cc84]

If I'm not mistaken, with the Ford Lightning, one will be able to turn off one pedal driving. I do like one pedal driving the majority of the time, but there are times I don't.

In addition to not being able to turn off one pedal driving, not having a "resume", or "speed limit sign recognition" for the cruise control, too much "vampire" drain on the battery and no running board option, are causing me concern whether I keep the Rivian, or not. It would definitely be hard to part with, but I need to be practical.

 

[Craigins]

My only concern with OPD is the added delay to apply the friction brake if necessary.

Typically if I see someone driving poorly and unpredictable in an ICE i'd let off the gas and position my foot on the brake, just in case it is needed.

With OPD, I no longer have that option, i have to maintain pressure on the "skinny pedal" in order to maintain speed, but if the driver in front of my acts in a way that requires the friction brake, i have to move my foot over. This delay could be the difference between a miss and an accident.

I just don't understand why they don't blend regen into the friction brake pedal.

 

[KingTodd]

Apologies for a tangential question, but I am learning a lot in this thread about regen braking which I haven't encountered before.
Is this safer than using traditional brakes in the winter on snowy/icy road?

 

[pcrampton]

p. 75 of the R1T user's manual (https://assets.rivian.com/2md5qhoea...8967fcaca/r1t-owners-guide-en-us-20220425.pdf)

shows there are 2 levels of regenerative braking: High and Standard and that brake lights automatically illuminate during regenerative braking.

I can't copy from the manual - they password protected the .pdf file and web page... :-(

 

[blturner]

Chill mode sounds like it would address a lot of my concern.
Yes I would turn the regen down or off. It only has two settings. It is not that I can't drive with OPD, I just don't like it. And I suspect that in a few MONTHS the subconscious part of my driving will be able to handle this even when turning, merging, and matching speed.
The other day on a long drive my heel was getting numb from all the careful modulation, but I could not just lift it a bit and go on because my wife was sleeping and unless your at highway speeds it will wake up a sleeping passenger. It is actually reasonable at highway speeds. It is from about 20 to 50 where it is way too aggressive even on the lighter setting. I am sure I brake checked a couple of cars over the past 2 weeks.

 

[bhopkins]

My only concern with OPD is the added delay to apply the friction brake if necessary.

Typically if I see someone driving poorly and unpredictable in an ICE i'd let off the gas and position my foot on the brake, just in case it is needed.

With OPD, I no longer have that option, i have to maintain pressure on the "skinny pedal" in order to maintain speed, but if the driver in front of my acts in a way that requires the friction brake, i have to move my foot over. This delay could be the difference between a miss and an accident.

I just don't understand why they don't blend regen into the friction brake pedal.

Actually, as you’re moving your foot from the accelerator to the brake pedal, the truck is already going to be starting to slow down due to the regen. Also, if someone in front of you is driving erratically, it is probably a good idea to go ahead and increase your following distance so you have more room to react rather than covering the brake.

Personally, I’ve gotten used to OPD. I think of it as having a raw egg between my foot and the accelerator. Use gentle pressure so you don’t crack the egg.

 

[Surferdude]

Maybe if someone is new to regen braking, but if you do it correctly you just start slow down as you modulate speed - to the driver behind you it should look no differently than me slowing down by gently pressing down the brake to reduce speed.

If someone is new to regen braking and they just pull their foot off the pedal, that is very much like someone pressing hard on a brake and could look like a brake check. But, like I said, that shouldn't be the case after a short time (It literally took me 15 minutes on my test drive to realize that the right way to decelerate was to gently reduce pressure on the accelerator vs just lifting my foot off).

I am not talking about physically decelerating I am talking about the brake lights being illuminated. A perceived brake check doesn't need to decelerate a vehicle, it can just be the visual cue of brake lights. For example if someone let's you merge in front of them, but you find you have to pull off the accelerator because you'll hit the car in front while merging. But doing so activates the brake lights. To me it just doesn't seem like courteous driving and the person behind could get the wrong message.

I have owned several EVs. My plug in Pacifica had a mode that felt like a slightly lower gear. Pulling off the accelerator never activated the brake lights but it also had a nice subtle deceleration. It was never jarring to pull off the gas.

Based on the responses here I guess maybe I'm just weird but I don't want anyone thinking I'm brake checking them or constantly pressing the brakes. There should be a setting that allows some light regen but not enough to activate the brake lights. I'm not sure why anyone would argue this since it's very easy to implement. Options are good.

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