Really prefer low regen, but would like option for brake-only regen and saving as default profile

[EBEG]

I can see why some people want an electric car to feel like a gas car. Personally, I love the 1-pedal driving and don't miss coasting at all. It took me about a mile to love it and about a week to have smooth turns slowing from any speed. I only use friction brakes 1-2 times per week.

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[Papi4baby]

Kia EV6 does it pretty good with regen, is almost fully adjustable from one pedal to very soft regen. The paddles on the steering wheel (like shift paddles) actually function to modify regen quickly and if held in either + or - they will max the regen on the select side, max regen or no regen.

Also has an auto regen with your settings, that if you have it on low but as you get closer to vehicles it will increase regen to slow you down more, kinda like a regen adaptive cruise.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Tesla and Rivian on the other hand have a more traditional brake pedal that is physically connected to the friction brakes. While you can introduce some regen with this system, the amount is limited due to the fact that the friction brakes are immediately engaged. The result of this system is a brake feel that is much more predictable and controlable.

This is not how it works with the Bosch iBooster. It can be configured to have an amount of travel before the physical brakes are actuated, but it's still a mechanical connection to the brakes. Rivian just hasn't implemented this yet, likely because it's really easy to get wrong and leads to a totally shitty braking experience on surfaces that don't have consistent friction.

 

[TTedP]

True fact - less regen gives better efficiency on the highway. Regen inherently introduces losses with the inverter, wiring, etc. So on the highway with only minor speed changes the benefit of Regen doesn't overcome the losses of using it (but we're talking like 5% or less of a difference in efficiency by my reckoning. It's very minor)

In the city, on the other hand, where you are frequently stopping, that's not the case. Regen is a HUGE benefit. The more the better

Good to know. Just did my first long road trip and never occurred to me to turn off High.

I too found that the slowing was too abrupt at highway speeds when you try to rest your foot for a minute and have someone riding your butt.

 

[electruck]

With the Rivian I am forced to keep my foot at a specific spot to maintain speed. I can’t even stretch my ankle without affecting the ride. This makes for a tiring drive experience.

I too found that the slowing was too abrupt at highway speeds when you try to rest your foot for a minute and have someone riding your butt.

That's what cruise control is for.

 

[CompilerBreak]

Our Ford Lightning brake pedal (when one pedal mode is turned off) acts identically to any traditional brake pedal in any ICE vehicle. And the regen efficiency is identical to the regen in one pedal mode as long as you don't mash the brake pedal. There is even an efficiency "coach" on the dash that tells you exactly how much of the braking energy was actually sent back to the battery. In 99% of my braking, 100% goes back to the battery. And yes I understand 100% doesn't mean 100% regen efficiency as there are significant losses when an electric motor turns into a generator to charge a battery and then discharge the battery to once again power the motor. Coasting is far more efficient than constantly repeating this round trip loss of efficiency.

Maybe the Mach E operates under different parameters but the Lightning truly offers both one pedal and standard driving modes. It truly is the best of both worlds. Rivian unfortunately missed this. My Rivian also uses 50% more electricity on the exact same driving routes as my Lightning. 2.8 miles per kWh vs 1.9 in my R1S. I can only assume much of this efficiency loss is due to the inefficiency of the regen system because 50% is an absolutely staggering energy consumption delta for two vehicles that are both similar in weight, drag coefficient and size. In fact the Lighting is actually significantly larger... by almost 3 feet. 90% of my driving is city driving.

The Mach E is identical to this, the only complaint I'd ever heard is when transitioning to a full stop the car can kinda lurch as the physical brakes engage. I never thought I'd say I miss the limited drive modes Ford offered, but it was nice having the choice and notably better at times when you could properly coast. Yes, I got used to 1-pd driving, but having the option is one less hurdle to getting folks to adopt.

 

[madhat]

True fact - less regen gives better efficiency on the highway. Regen inherently introduces losses with the inverter, wiring, etc. So on the highway with only minor speed changes the benefit of Regen doesn't overcome the losses of using it (but we're talking like 5% or less of a difference in efficiency by my reckoning. It's very minor)

In the city, on the other hand, where you are frequently stopping, that's not the case. Regen is a HUGE benefit. The more the better

Hmm. Maybe there’s the possibility of a regen option with high below 55 or 60 mph and low/no regen above that…

 

[mikehmb]

Blended braking is absolutely possible on the RIvians. They introduced blended braking already, albeit in a way that is not user-accessible. It’s how they get around the “limited regen” problem with warm electronics on long descents.

I suppose it’s possible that they made some very poor design decision where that is possible without allowing blended through the brake pedal, but that seems absurd.

 

[TTedP]

That's what cruise control is for.

True. Call me old school but I grew up driving manuals and never got in the habit of using cruise.

On this recent road trip, we were on mountainous roads and I found Rivian's cruise kept surging in the curves (like getting confused, slowing down in corners with fits of acceleration in between).

 

[TTedP]

Blended braking is absolutely possible on the RIvians. They introduced blended braking already, albeit in a way that is not user-accessible. It’s how they get around the “limited regen” problem with warm electronics on long descents.

I suppose it’s possible that they made some very poor design decision where that is possible without allowing blended through the brake pedal, but that seems absurd.

Isn't that what the regen assist option we have is doing as well? I leave it off.

 

[mikehmb]

Isn't that what the regen assist option we have is doing as well? I leave it off.

Yup - that’s all that setting does. Instead of letting you fly fast and loose down the hill after the “limited regen” warning pops up, it applies friction brakes when the regen needs to back itself off so you get a seamless feel downhill.

FWIW I turned that setting off because I like to know what my car is up to, but I see the utility in it.

 

[mikehmb]

True. Call me old school but I grew up driving manuals and never got in the habit of using cruise.

On this recent road trip, we were on mountainous roads and I found Rivian's cruise kept surging in the curves (like getting confused, slowing down in corners with fits of acceleration in between).

That surging you’re feeling is also intentional, and I think you can disable it. It’s meant to slow down in curves.

Edit: it’s called Curve Speed Assist and I don’t think you can turn it off … https://assets.rivian.com/2md5qhoea...494a902e66c/r1t-og-en-us-20240527.pdf#page229

 

[thrill]

I think an option to allow the system to simply coast for a couple of seconds after disabling cruise control and if no pedals were pressed to then slowly blend in regen would be comfortable and easily controlled, allowing the driver to deselect and then adjust speed with the brakes or the throttle without lurching. Once the adjustment was made with pedals, the regular regen, whether soft or not, would be enabled.

 

[RexRemus]

For those complaining about jerky exits from cruise control, please see my post here for some info that might help you to smooth that out:

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...unavailable-is-unacceptable.30164/post-575750

 

[electruck]

For those complaining about jerky exits from cruise control, please see my post here for some info that might help you to smooth that out:

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/...unavailable-is-unacceptable.30164/post-575750

Yep, hardly ever use ACC or D+ myself (even on 10 hour driving days) but I've never had any problem disengaging smoothly when I did.

Same thing rolling out of the car wash and shifting smoothly from N to D, just need to feather the throttle a little before shifting into D.

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