One Pedal Driving

[ukslim]

Given the state of the software I would not be confident to use such a capability. And, if you have to switch it on every time then, neither are MG. I assume it does not earn MG NCAP points.

I think it's NCAP-related. The thing about all the resetting options is that NCAP says the driving experience must be predictable if an arbitrary driver gets in. Their angle is that it's less safe if someone gets in expecting a standard accelerator response, and gets eco or sport instead because the previous driver changed it.

... and likewise for other driving characteristics, including whether the car creeps or stops when you fully release the accelerator.

So this isn't an indicator that MG isn't confident in the feature.

I do think that with the number of options drivers now want to customise every single time they set off, there ought to be a driver profile setup, and a really prominent driver-select button on the home screen. Car starts with standard settings. As soon as the touchscreen has initialised, I should be able to tap "John" and I get my settings.

 

[lsb777]

I do find it slightly strange that some new EV drivers don't appear to have done any research or had test drives in any EV prior to ordering. Dealerships don't help in general as they don't usually provide even a basic "how-to" handover with new customers, so it becomes a shock when people have to learn about things like one pedal driving/regen and how to public charge. Forums can be helpful, but I think people need to at least watch some YouTube videos & read up on actual manufacturer websites so they have a basic understanding before panicking on a motorway about LKA etc

 

[Rolfe]

I spent a wee while watching videos on YouTube, which settled me on buying an MG4. This forum was really helpful too. When I had my test drive the LKA activated when I moved over to a slip road without indicating (there was nobody behind me), and the dealer explained. So I knew what was going on. Took the car on a joyride the day after I got it, stopped half way to switch it off, and I've switched it off before setting out ever since.

I'd never even been in an EV before that test drive!

 

[bowfer]

I do find it slightly strange that some new EV drivers don't appear to have done any research or had test drives in any EV prior to ordering. Dealerships don't help in general as they don't usually provide even a basic "how-to" handover with new customers, so it becomes a shock when people have to learn about things like one pedal driving/regen and how to public charge. Forums can be helpful, but I think people need to at least watch some YouTube videos & read up on actual manufacturer websites so they have a basic understanding before panicking on a motorway about LKA etc

Where are these ‘no handover’ dealers?
Every new car I’ve had recently, which is a fair few, I’ve had to suffer the salesman wittering on when I just want to get going….

Back to the point of the thread, one pedal driving, I personally don’t like it and have chosen to ignore it in all four EVs I’ve owned since 2015.
One thing I really like about my born is that D mode has zero off-throttle regen, it just freewheels and can go for an incredible distance without slowing down in any meaningful way.
It’s great for efficiency, I’m getting over 4mpkwh easily and have seen 6mpkhw.
Didn’t get anything like that on my other EVs that still had ‘some’ off-throttle regen, even on their weakest setting.
I refer to it as off-throttle regen, as I obviously still get regen when I apply the brake pedal.
I don’t care that I’m using brake pads more than the guy who uses one pedal.

PS one pedal snobbery is a definite thing in EV world and you can get weird looks if you say you don’t use it.
They can bite me.

 

[Emgie 4]

Where are these ‘no handover’ dealers?
Every new car I’ve had recently, which is a fair few, I’ve had to suffer the salesman wittering on when I just want to get going….

Back to the point of the thread, one pedal driving, I personally don’t like it and have chosen to ignore it in all four EVs I’ve owned since 2015.
One thing I really like about my born is that D mode has zero off-throttle regen, it just freewheels and can go for an incredible distance without slowing down in any meaningful way.
It’s great for efficiency, I’m getting over 4mpkwh easily and have seen 6mpkhw.
Didn’t get anything like that on my other EVs that still had ‘some’ off-throttle regen, even on their weakest setting.
I refer to it as off-throttle regen, as I obviously still get regen when I apply the brake pedal.
I don’t care that I’m using brake pads more than the guy who uses one pedal.

PS one pedal snobbery is a definite thing in EV world and you can get weird looks if you say you don’t use it.
They can bite me.

I'd agree with most of your points on OPD, it is really a personal choice to use or not (if your car has the functionality), I use it on occasion but generally have regen set medium which I find closest to my prev ICE car having only recently made the switch to EV - MG4, I suspect I may use it more as I adapt.
But where you say - "I refer to it as off-throttle regen, as I obviously still get regen when I apply the brake pedal." I believe this isn't correct, regen occurs ONLY when lifting off accelerator, when brake pedal applied the energy is absorbed through the pads/discs so regen is not achieved.
Regardless, the regen gains will vary based on driving style, and design efficiencies (car type) and are often quite small, sometimes insignificant.

 

[lsb777]

Where are these ‘no handover’ dealers?
Every new car I’ve had recently, which is a fair few, I’ve had to suffer the salesman wittering on when I just want to get going….

Back to the point of the thread, one pedal driving, I personally don’t like it and have chosen to ignore it in all four EVs I’ve owned since 2015.
One thing I really like about my born is that D mode has zero off-throttle regen, it just freewheels and can go for an incredible distance without slowing down in any meaningful way.
It’s great for efficiency, I’m getting over 4mpkwh easily and have seen 6mpkhw.
Didn’t get anything like that on my other EVs that still had ‘some’ off-throttle regen, even on their weakest setting.
I refer to it as off-throttle regen, as I obviously still get regen when I apply the brake pedal.
I don’t care that I’m using brake pads more than the guy who uses one pedal.

PS one pedal snobbery is a definite thing in EV world and you can get weird looks if you say you don’t use it.
They can bite me.

The company I work for use Tusker leasing as salary sacrifice. The cars are simply dropped off to your property by a transporter driver and basic paperwork done. You're then stood there potentially not knowing anything about how to drive/charge etc. Many forumites have said same thing that (in their countless experiences) dealers were still more interested in selling/demo-ing ICE vehicles and EVs were an after-thought, with a few specialist companies excluded. The geezer (yep) at a Volvo showroom had the spiel but basic knowledge. I learnt far more from attending Fully Charged/Gridserve and booking in TDs and doing my own research.

 

[jpk]

That's the same with Arval who manages my salary sacrifice scheme. Puts you between a rock and a hard place really as if you find faults the delivery driver is just gonna say he's just that and likely not even directly employed by the dealer

 

[siteguru]

I'd agree with most of your points on OPD, it is really a personal choice to use or not (if your car has the functionality), I use it on occasion but generally have regen set medium which I find closest to my prev ICE car having only recently made the switch to EV - MG4, I suspect I may use it more as I adapt.
But where you say - "I refer to it as off-throttle regen, as I obviously still get regen when I apply the brake pedal." I believe this isn't correct, regen occurs ONLY when lifting off accelerator, when brake pedal applied the energy is absorbed through the pads/discs so regen is not achieved.
Regardless, the regen gains will vary based on driving style, and design efficiencies (car type) and are often quite small, sometimes insignificant.

In my MG4 (which I usually run at the default high (level 3) regen) if I lift of the accelerator then regen % will increase to a level, say 15%. If I then gently press the brake pedal then regen increases up to 25% - so the braking force is not being applied through the brake pads (until I press more firmly, or the car is coming to a stop whereupon the brakes are applied).

 

[bowfer]

I'd agree with most of your points on OPD, it is really a personal choice to use or not (if your car has the functionality), I use it on occasion but generally have regen set medium which I find closest to my prev ICE car having only recently made the switch to EV - MG4, I suspect I may use it more as I adapt.
But where you say - "I refer to it as off-throttle regen, as I obviously still get regen when I apply the brake pedal." I believe this isn't correct, regen occurs ONLY when lifting off accelerator, when brake pedal applied the energy is absorbed through the pads/discs so regen is not achieved.
Regardless, the regen gains will vary based on driving style, and design efficiencies (car type) and are often quite small, sometimes insignificant.

This is incorrect, but it’s a common misconception.
When you press the brake pedal, some cars will only use the motor to slow the car down until a certain pedal pressure is reached, or it’s a combination of the motor and brakes.
Putting it simply, if I watch the regen display on my dash no regen is displayed when I come off the throttle.
Yet as soon as I press the brake pedal, regen is displayed and modulates according to pedal pressure.

 

[siteguru]

I find that the MG4 in Adaptive regen applies minimum regen level when lifting off the throttle - unless the car detects something in front of it (or you gently press the brake pedal) in which case a higher level is applied.

I encountered this on my test drive - I switched to adaptive, came to a roundabout and expected the regen to slow the car down ... but it didn't, until I pressed the brake pedal.

 

[bowfer]

I find that the MG4 in Adaptive regen applies minimum regen level when lifting off the throttle - unless the car detects something in front of it (or you gently press the brake pedal) in which case a higher level is applied.

I encountered this on my test drive - I switched to adaptive, came to a roundabout and expected the regen to slow the car down ... but it didn't, until I pressed the brake pedal.

Adaptive impressed me and it seemed to have had some thought applied to it.
But I got bored of having to select it every damn drive.
I was always baffled as to why it wasn’t the chosen default, bizarre decision making.

“We want you to design an adaptive regen mode, we don’t just want fixed modes”

“Ok we’ve nailed it”

“Thanks guys, we’re going with the heaviest setting as default”

 

[siteguru]

I imagine regen 3 is more predictable, so they default to that since there aren't any driver profile options; on the basis of the next driver may not be the same as the last driver.

 

[Emgie 4]

This is incorrect, but it’s a common misconception.
When you press the brake pedal, some cars will only use the motor to slow the car down until a certain pedal pressure is reached, or it’s a combination of the motor and brakes.
Putting it simply, if I watch the regen display on my dash no regen is displayed when I come off the throttle.
Yet as soon as I press the brake pedal, regen is displayed and modulates according to pedal pressure.

Oh, I stand corrected, I must keep an eye on regen power meter on my next drive.
If it operates the way you suggest (and I'm not doubting you) it would make more sense. but I would have thought for intrinsic safety design applying the brake pedal actually applied physical brakes, but I guess regen has same effect.
Do you believe all EV makers use this system?

 

[bowfer]

Oh, I stand corrected, I must keep an eye on regen power meter on my next drive.
If it operates the way you suggest (and I'm not doubting you) it would make more sense. but I would have thought for intrinsic safety design applying the brake pedal actually applied physical brakes, but I guess regen has same effect.
Do you believe all EV makers use this system?

I believe all EV makers use the motor during braking yes.
I don’t think any go straight to hydraulic brakes only, that wouldn’t make any sense and would totally waste braking energy.

 

[Exdro]

I find that the MG4 in Adaptive regen applies minimum regen level when lifting off the throttle - unless the car detects something in front of it (or you gently press the brake pedal) in which case a higher level is applied.

I encountered this on my test drive - I switched to adaptive, came to a roundabout and expected the regen to slow the car down ... but it didn't, until I pressed the brake pedal.

If battery was fully charged in your test drive there would be no noticeable regeneration. There has to be some room for the regenerated electrons to go. Using an ICE analogy: you can’t put an extra gallon /litre in an already full tank.

 

[MikeN]

One pedal driving means that when you lift off the accelerator and use regen to slow the car it will eventually come to a complete stop rather creeping slowly. In an emergency, or any time you're not slowing down quickly enough, you use the brakes. It's not that you always drive only using one pedal. It's just that there will be occasions where you don't need to use the brakes to come to a standstill, especially f you are looking ahead and anticipating the stop. I used to drive miles in my BMW i3 without touching the brakes, including slowing down and stopping at junctions.

As an advanced driver, which I am not, you are taught to touch the brake pedal when you stop so that the brake light illuminates to warn the driver behind that you have stopped. It’s a courtesy thing really.

 

[bowfer]

I imagine regen 3 is more predictable, so they default to that since there aren't any driver profile options; on the basis of the next driver may not be the same as the last driver.

You’re maybe right, they wanted a predictable regen level as the default.
But choosing the heaviest one as the default is still bizarre.

As an advanced driver, which I am not, you are taught to touch the brake pedal when you stop so that the brake light illuminates to warn the driver behind that you have stopped. It’s a courtesy thing really.

One pedal will apply the brake lights.
And if combined with some sort of auto hold when stopped, the brake lights stay on.
I don’t like brake lights dazzling drivers behind, but it’s hard to avoid.
Auto hold applies the lights, so does pressing the pedal.
Only way to avoid is to select park every time you stop, which is a faff and people just don’t bother.

 

[ukslim]

As an advanced driver, which I am not, you are taught to touch the brake pedal when you stop so that the brake light illuminates to warn the driver behind that you have stopped. It’s a courtesy thing really.

I feel that when one-pedal-driving, a car ought to show the car behind what they'd see if you were braking conventionally.

Shame if that's not what happens.

 

[Exdro]

I feel that when one-pedal-driving, a car ought to show the car behind what they'd see if you were braking conventionally.

Shame if that's not what happens.

The brake lights come on when you lift off the accelerator.

 

[Vitesse67]

The brake lights come on when you lift off the accelerator.

Can you confirm that you have actually witnessed this?

I ask as I have worried that cars driving too close (tailgating) are possibly going to rear end me when I lift off the accelerator (regen 3) as they don’t have any other indication I’m slowing down.
Does it also illuminate the brake lights when slowing down quickly using ACC?