downhill without downshifting?

[Deleted member 12322]

On the topic of not being able to maintain speed going downhill, I did multiple legs at 7% grade downhill with 2000+ lbs of stuff in the truck and I never once maintained over my set 65 mph. Maybe a slight overshoot but it would correct back.

If your truck can't maintain its speed going downhill with cruise control set that is odd to me, I would take photos of the dash to verify it's regen'ing and talk to a dealer. I think TFL went down the I-70 Ike pass with a 10k pound trailer and didn't need brakes...

Sponsored

 

[Runaway Tractor]

I don't think there is any indicator on the user interface when friction brakes are being used by cruise control or 1PD. As far as I'm aware, the truck uses the friction brakes whenever they're needed above and beyond the regen braking force.

Several people are saying cruise control does not use the friction brakes at all, and I'd like to know what documentation substantiates this?

 

[Pioneer74]

Just for fun ...
And for more fun ... the 2022 Ford Lightning Technical Specifications show the motor build location as the Van Dyke Transmission Plant. ?

Ford changed the name of the plant.

https://media.ford.com/content/ford...dyke-plant_s-name-change-electrification.html

 

[Joneii]

I would suggest the OP try Tow/Haul mode. When I come down an 8% grade towing 7000 lbs, I can take my foot off the accelerator at 45 and the truck will hold 45 for several miles until the grade flattens a bit and I have to engage the accelerator to keep from slowing too much. It is actually quite nice to not worry about hot brakes on long steep descents while towing.

 

[lancersrock]

Do people use the brakes that much? I stay in 1P and I’ll bet I touch my brakes once a month (normally after an update shuts 1p off).

I’ve driven about 10 different evs this year and honestly think the one pedal and regen are better on the lightning than the others, although as mentioned by others Kia’s adjustable regen on the ev6 is a nice feature I’d like to see ford look into but I’m guessing they were afraid it would make it too complicated for the older market ford wants to control

 

[TaxmanHog]

I see a suggestion about feathering, which I suppose is a light touch.

Yes, it is and try it in sport mode, you'll find the impact more aggressive.

 

[TaxmanHog]

It is possible op is using max regen and the batteries literally can't take anymore

Important point, when the traction battery is at / near 100% it has no capacity to absorb the extra juice in regen mode, so the phase synchronization is dialed back and friction brakes take more load.

 

[Heliian]

. Cruise control does not keep me from speeding up. I set it to 60, and downhill it creeps up well above 60.

How much faster? Mines pretty solid maybe a few kmh either way.

If you think it's too fast then just lower the set speed.

 

[Adventureboy]

Also, when using the brake pedal to disengage the cruise control, you have to quickly depress the accelerator a bit to prevent head-bumping and rear-ending.

Use the cancel button on the wheel instead of tapping the brake pedal. You can leave your foot on the accelerator and maintain a gentle deceleration.

 

[Shawnson]

My cars/trucks since 1998 have all had something like tiptronic, where I could downshift even though I had an automatic transmission. I used it very frequently going over passes (I live in Oregon) to maintain the right speed. Now I have a Lightning with a continuous transmission and Ford does not seem to have provided any options. I am told that Tesla and Toyota e-vehicles allow the driver to turn on the regenerating component of the brakes so there is drag, like a downshift, even without applying the brakes. Why didn't Ford do this? Cruise control does not do the trick and when I use the one-pedal mode, I am either braking (too much for a long grade) or using power (when I apply the gas). This may be my biggest disappointment so far with my Lightning.

I am sorry to hear that we have not fully brought you up to speed with how EVs work yet. Hopefully I can answer some questions all in one note without sounding condescending (not my goal, just want to answer some questions).

1. There is no transmission. The electric motors feed the tires directly.
2. Toyota has a single EV, not sure that’s what you are referring to, the rest are hybrids that do have transmissions and work much more similarly to how conventional ICE vehicles work, either with an tiny electric motor packaged in the transmission or an independent smaller electric motor powering the rear wheels with the rest of the car in a front drive setup ICE configuration.
3. Regen will always be available on your lightning. There are two configurations. 1 pedal mode, or normal ICE mode. In normal ice mode the braking is blended, this means with small amounts of braking, it will actually only apply regen, once you are trying to brake harder than what regen can supply it will add in friction braking (your rotors and pads). You can verify this with the energy meter on the left, as you will see it have a green animation when regen is occurring.
3.1 When in 1 pedal mode, do not try to “coast” you will need to learn to feather the accel pedal. Using less acceleration can actually start the regen braking process, again, to practice with this, watch the energy meter on the left in the instrument display. Once you get really good, you can actually get a feel for how long it takes to stop with regen only. 80% of the time, i can just take my foot of the accel from about 30-40mph and with the truck using regen and no further input from me, stop within 10 feet of where i would want to. Once you can get to this proficiency, you’ll never want to use anything but 1pedal driving.
4. Tesla does not offer any way too adjust regen aggression, GM does through paddles on the steering wheel, but this is really just a crutch for people who are not yet proficcient at 1 pedal mode. The key is, be gentle, and learn to feather it. As if you were driving a high end sports car on the track without stability and traction control, being dileberate with the acceleration pedal is all you need to focus on. My dad struggled with it when he got his tesla, the advice I gave him that solved everything all at once, drive it like a golf cart. And 2 seconds later, he was a pro.

 

[Electric Messiah]

Using sport mode is an excellent down-shifter for me, for braking and regenerating going down hills, and also for anticipating stopped traffic ahead by taking the foot off the accelerator pedal and coasting which allows for little actual brake use. Then, there's that certain satisfaction of a somewhat obsessive hyper miler, of the battery regeneration that results from such practices.

As for one pedal use, I find it of best utility in heavy stop and go traffic-- nice not to need happy feet, constant shifting from pedal to pedal.

 

[BBB]

1. Cruise control does not keep me from speeding up. I set it to 60, and downhill it creeps up well above 60.

2. If I have my foot on the accelerator, I am using juice--right? So with one-pedal model, I can slow down or use juice by keeping my foot on the accelerator. I would prefer having the truck regenerate and take advantage of the long grade. My hybrid does that: by time I get to the bottom of the grade, it has put 4-5 miles back on the battery. I see a suggestion about feathering, which I suppose is a light touch.

Glad you said that cause my Ford Cmax Energy allows speed increase unless you lightly touch the brakes then it starts regen and adds miles by the time I'm at the bottom.
Something is missing here, I would think the Lightning would have a similar function at the very least. What about co pilot 360 which is supposed to maintain set speed?

 

[Monkey]

I get the desired effect by "feathering" the accelerator pedal in one-pedal mode. It is, in effect, an accelerator / decelerator control pedal. As you know, if you take your foot completely off the accelerator, you may hit your head on the windshield ... and/or get rear-ended by the vehicle behind you.

Uh... the regenerative braking in my Lightning, as well as the other two I've driven and the PowerBoosts with regen, is nowhere near that powerful. I wish the regen had more bite to it, because compared to what I'm used to with Tesla it's pretty weak. Lighting regen is like my Model Y regen set to low. I do get more bite in sport mode, if I remember to change drive modes and all that.

Easing my foot off the accelerator to start and then coasting on regen in most situations lets me roll right up to a stop the same as if I slowly and gently applied the brake in an ICE truck. There are many times with traffic and other idiot drivers I have to actually hit the brake pedal and that irks me.

 

[Sedawk]

After reading this thread I see that the amount of people who believe that 1-pedal driving is some magical regeneration mode is too damn high. Someone mentioned that they have "never touched their brakes in a month" with 1-pedal driving. I don't 1-pedal drive, but that doesn't mean the truck is using the physical brakes all the time. I generally hit 100% all the time on the brake coach which means that the truck has recovered all the regenerative braking energy it possibly can. I use the same energy that a 1-pedal driver would.

If I take my foot off the gas in normal 2-pedal drive I'm not getting energy into the batteries, but I am also not losing speed as fast - that energy stays as momentum and keeps the truck moving forward. 1-pedal drive is taking my trucks momentum and throwing it into the battery via active regenerative braking. I have the option with 2-pedal drive to do that myself by applying some brake or deciding to keep the trucks energy as momentum.

With normal city driving with someone who is braking well (that is, high brake coach score) there is no difference in the energy savings between 1-pedal driving and 2-pedal driving. 1-pedal driving forces you to convert the truck's kinetic energy to electrical the second you take your foot off or ease off the accelerator pedal. Whereas with 2-pedal driving I have the option to convert kinetic energy to electrical by applying the brake or just keep the truck rolling forward under its own momentum.

When it comes to using your truck's energy in the most effective way, 2-pedal driving gets the nod because you have that control. Sure - there are 1-pedal drivers who feel that they can mimic coasting - but that is VERY hard because it requires a very gradual ease off on the accelerator pedal.

 

[hturnerfamily]

I think that any of the modes of driving are essentially going to have the same basic outcome, efficiency wise. But, if the physical brakes are being used, either manually, or by 1pd, itself, that is going to reduce the overall REGEN back to the battery pack since physical braking is taking away that energy savings, or taking the place of it.

Although, yes, REGEN is happening while you are braking, braking caused the loss of speed more quickly than the REGEN itself would, and therefore is robbing a slight amount of REGEN you otherwise would capture.

In the real world, though, we don't live by scientific rules, solely, we have other elements within the environment that create changes: traffic ahead causing you to have to come to a stop before REGEN would, otherwise... using 1pd when simply 'coasting' with REGEN only would suffice, etc. Many of us use SPORT mode, which, yes, means that you can really drive a LOT of your miles without EVER touching the physical brakes, but, reality states that there WILL BE some times when you HAVE to touch, or hit, your brakes.... it's inevitable.

I'll bet that no matter our disagreements, or discussions about 'which' is best, we'll all have very similar efficiencies, for the long range, in similar situations, no matter which method we prefer.

Sponsored