Would coasting improve range?

[MM in SouthTX]

I have been playing around with 1-pedal lately. Not sure how much it affects range, but it does annoy me when I take my foot off the pedal to slip on sandals or something. Quite the deceleration.

There are not a lot of hills where I live, but coming down the intracoastal bridge the other day I took my foot off the pedal, engaging the regen brake. It takes too long to turn off 1-pedal, so instead I shifted into neutral. The truck absolutely took off down the hill compared to coasting in my Expedition.

That got me thinking. When you shift to neutral in an ICE vehicle, the engine still has a lot of friction from being coupled to the drivetrain. Seems not to be the case with the Lightning. Also, the added mass of the truck should improve coasting on flat terrain and especially down hills.

Anyone thought about this or noticed how well it coasts? Might this be the most efficient way to increase range?

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[Lime Green]

The deceleration is the regenerative braking kicking in. If you want to coast you actually have to find that super fine point on the accelerator where you're not adding any power and not letting the regen kick in. It's not as hard as it sounds, takes a bit of practice, but it's there. That's the hardest thing for most people to get used to with EVs and "one pedal" driving is there's a whole lot more finesse to that 'gas' pedal.

If you're doing a lot of down-hill, embrace the regen. It's adding more power back into the system than you're saving by coasting in neutral. It's like many of us Colorado Tesla owners have found. We can start a trip in the mountains and drive 150 miles into Denver and still be fully charged up when we get there.

 

[Pioneer74]

I turned off 1-pedal drive. Even when you're coasting, the display indicates that it is regenerating power to the battery, and the blended brakes will also regen as long as you don't put too much pressure on the brake pedal. I consistently get 99 or 100% on my brake score. My mi/kWh never changed either.

I think 1-pedal drive is a non factor on vehicles with blended brakes.

 

[TaxmanHog]

If I want to play footsies or just relax the accelerator pedal FOOT, I turn on blue cruise and set a cruising speed, the truck maintains its speed regardless of terrain.

 

[Wsl346]

All things being equal, yes, it is more efficient to gradually coast to a stop than it is to continuing using power up to the point where regen will bring you to a stop. Coasting costs next to nothing in terms of energy usage in an EV. With regen, there is a percentage of that recaptured energy that is lost to heat that you'll never get back.

In reality, I would imagine the energy saving are minimal if you were to never use one pedal driving. More importantly, you won't always have the luxury to coast from 40-50mph down to 0 and frankly, that would be kind of annoying to other drivers being that guy who is hyper mileing

 

[BennyTheBeaver]

If I want to play footsies

Ok, you're going to need to teach us how to do this...I don't bend in any way that makes this possible.

 

[RickLightning]

but it does annoy me when I take my foot off the pedal to slip on sandals or something

So you're driving barefoot, and then while you're driving you're putting on sandals?

 

[ExCivilian]

It's adding more power back into the system than you're saving by coasting in neutral.

It can't add more than is saved.

 

[MM in SouthTX]

I'm just thinking back to the 1966 Pearson Commander that I grew up sailing and we still have in the family. VERY heavy boat. Lots of momentum compared to later models. Instead of going uphill at speed and trying to capture energy braking downhill, bleed off your speed uphill, and shift to neutral downhill to recapture your speed.

 

[MM in SouthTX]

So you're driving barefoot, and then while you're driving you're putting on sandals?

I have also been known to jaywalk. Barefoot.

 

[Lime Green]

It can't add more than is saved.

Regenerative braking generates power that is fed back to the battery. If you roll down a hill in neutral, you just roll and can slow yourself with the conventional brakes. Whereas regen braking (which requires the motors to be engaged) will slow the vehicle, generating power to recharge. I can drive my Tesla from Grand Junction, CO, starting with a 90% charge or about 265 miles of range down to my place near Denver, 240 miles away, and I arrive with 75% or more charge. All because of regen braking because the trip is 80% or more down-hill the whole way. It's like gravitationally-assisted charging. That's an extreme scenario that isn't available most places. And of course doesn't address the energy expended on the trip up the hill which of course requires a stop to charge.

The general point is that with the one-pedal driving, there's a point on the accelerator that is an approximate neutral and you can finesse how much regenerative braking takes hold. It makes no sense to kick the truck into neutral to coast.

 

[ExCivilian]

It makes no sense to kick the truck into neutral to coast

That seems extreme. Regardless, it’s more efficient to drive without one pedal.

 

[RickLightning]

That seems extreme. Regardless, it’s more efficient to drive without one pedal.

No, it's not. In fact, 1PD and any drive mode are the same efficiency.

 

[sotek2345]

No, it's not. In fact, 1PD and any drive mode are the same efficiency.

I agree on 1PD being the same efficiency as non-1PD, however I do believe that off road mode is less efficient because of the locking diff (of course you can lock and unlock it in any mode, but it defaults to locked in off road mode).

 

[RickLightning]

I agree on 1PD being the same efficiency as non-1PD, however I do believe that off road mode is less efficient because of the locking diff (of course you can lock and unlock it in any mode, but it defaults to locked in off road mode).

Correct. I was speaking about "driving modes", meaning on roads. Off-road is different.

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