Regenerative Breaking

Welcome to the forum and maybe BEVs. Yes all of them will turn on the break lights as you would expect when you are regenerating. So cars behind have no idea if you are breaking or regenerating.

But you may find as you get comfortable modulating your speed with regen some "less informed" drivers will think you keep tapping your breaks! I had one woman get really pissed off although I wasn't really slowing down/speeding up, she just thought I was tapping on the break to piss her off maybe.

Sometimes I wish there was an indicator when the brake lamps were illuminated.

I totally agree. It would have been nice to know when your break light is on. As long as the break lights go on while I am using regenerative Breaking I feel safer. Some drivers don’t pay attention unless your break lights go on, specially in traffic on a highway.

At least with so many new cars coming standard with AEB, you are less likely to be rear ended by someone not paying attention. Not a system that people should rely on, but its a good safeguard for those who wont put their phone down.

When the radar following gets spooked by the car in front of you changing lanes & slowing down, you look like a dork to the car behind you because your car briefly "brakes" until you override with the accelerator.

WattAJag said:

When the radar following gets spooked by the car in front of you changing lanes & slowing down, you look like a dork to the car behind you because your car briefly "brakes" until you override with the accelerator.

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Yeah I've learned to avoid that situation. I use Steering assist and adaptive cruise control mostly on country roads and freeways. Not much in town unless traffic flows well.

As a side note, a friend of mine paid attention to the brake lights when I was lifting off the thottle (high regen). It seems the brake lights come on after a second or so (I forget the exact length of time).

sciencegeek said:

As a side note, a friend of mine paid attention to the brake lights when I was lifting off the thottle (high regen). It seems the brake lights come on after a second or so (I forget the exact length of time).

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Alternative theory is they come on when regen amount exceeds a certain threshold, as I have noticed it ramps up as you let go of the accelerator. I wonder if they come on with low regen and creep mode enabled.

On my first highway trip in my new I-Pace, I soon realized that the brake lights came on during regen braking, when a Model S severed out from behind me to the lane on my right and then immediately cut back into my directly in front of me. Close enough that I had to physically hit the brakes. I guess he was getting annoyed with the my frequent brake lights. Now that I’m aware of the brake light situation, I’ve learned how to modulate my speed more smoothly under high regen. The Tesla driver also left me a long-term reminder that he wasn’t happy with me, a rock chip in my windshield.