Brake lights & regen braking

[Dortreo]

Hi all, during our test drive today, our Lucid rep told us that the brake lights go on whenever you let your foot off the gas so that regen braking can happen. Is that true? Because the way I was doing one pedal driving today, anyone behind me looking at my brake lights would think I was having a seizure.

 

[SaratogaLefty]

Hi all, during our test drive today, our Lucid rep told us that the brake lights go on whenever you let your foot off the gas so that regen braking can happen. Is that true? Because the way I was doing one pedal driving today, anyone behind me looking at my brake lights would think I was having a seizure.

Yes whenever the regen is actively functioning your brake lights will be illuminated.

 

[MarathonGuy]

Homologation mandates brake light to turn on whenever deceleration is more than a specified value irrespective of brake/regen/combination method.

 

[Dortreo]

Yes whenever the regen is actively functioning your brake lights will be illuminated.

So you really can’t coast in the car, right? How do you go down a steep hill with regen? Just put your foot on the accelerator a bit?

 

[Dortreo]

Homologation mandates brake light to turn on whenever deceleration is more than a specified value irrespective of brake/regen/combination method.

Just learned a new word. Thank you!

 

[hydbob]

So you really can’t coast in the car, right? How do you go down a steep hill with regen? Just put your foot on the accelerator a bit?

yep! it's one pedal for a reason!

 

[Codyroo]

Warning - this post is speculative - I have no data to support (but hey, that's why it's the internet......a keyboard and an opinion = keyboard warrior!

I asked this too during my test drive and the Sales associate confirmed the brake lights do go on when coasting. However, I'm wondering if it is only when you are fully off the accelerator pedal or some % of it.

When trying to coach my wife (post test drive) about one pedal driving, I told her to think of the first 10 to 20% of the gas pedal as "braking". Thus, to when you see traffic slowing down ahead, taking your foot FULLY off the "go" pedal is like braking hard. You need to reduce pressure on the pedal to reduce speed similar to coasting/engine braking in a normal car without fully lifting off.

I suspect that when fully off the pedal, brake lights come on, but would need to test in a parking lot where I can see a reflection of the brake lights.

 

[MPawelek]

I can see where under the heavier regeneration setting the car could slow down fast enough that a driver behind could rear end you without seeing the brake lights come on.

 

[Bill55]

It would be a nice to have the option to turn on a "brake" indicator on the dash so you could see when the brake lights are on the same way you can see when the headlights are on. Could be as simple as a thin red line under the speed indication.

 

[Mountain Man]

I can see where under the heavier regeneration setting the car could slow down fast enough that a driver behind could rear end you without seeing the brake lights come on.

Yes, under the high regen” setting, taking your foot off the pedal makes the car stop RIGHT NOW. It is the equivalent of a very forceful stomp on the brakes.

 

[Dawgly]

I'm sure this has been addressed before, but: With the maximum regen setting, one's brakes pads last a very-long time?

And also, not much brake dust to keep up with?

 

[Mountain Man]

I'm sure this has been addressed before, but: With the maximum regen setting, one's brakes pads last a very-long time?

And also, not much brake dust to keep up with?

Yep. You’ll rarely use the brakes.

 

[GEWC]

As someone who had an i3 where the brake lights did not go on when using regen, it is a good thing. With distracted drivers everywhere, I always had to keep an eye in my rearview when approaching a changing-to-red light on 55 mph roads (which were all over my town) as people were always slamming on their brakes behind me. It was a bit nerve wracking when the lights were at the bottom of hills. It was bad enough in the San Diego area; I would have been hit several times if I had still lived in Massachusetts - especially east of 495.

 

[Luci]

When reading the owner's manual, the following is stated: "If regenerative braking is aggressively slowing your vehicle (such as when your foot is completely off the accelerator pedal at highway speeds), the brake lights turn on to alert others that you are slowing down". Thus is seems for in town driving, the brake lights may or may not illuminate.

 

[HC_79]

^^
Yeah, I was going to say the book says something different that lead me to believe they don’t come on all the time.

In my Audi they came on every single time and I swear some people probably thought I was brake checking them. It’s something that non-EV owners won’t be aware of either. Nothing annoys me more when a driver is trigger happy on the brake pedal tapping it every few seconds for no good reason. In an EV though I know if I see this it’s because it’s more than likely regen’ing

 

[extesla]

It would be a nice to have the option to turn on a "brake" indicator on the dash so you could see when the brake lights are on the same way you can see when the headlights are on. Could be as simple as a thin red line under the speed indication.

Both of my Teslas had this feature. The brake lights on the image of the vehicle on the dash would light up when the brake lights went on. Hopefully Lucid does the same

 

[LCIDdreams]

Yep. You’ll rarely use the brakes.

I have heard frequently of EVs with 100,000 miles plus still on original brake pads

 

[Codyroo]

I have heard frequently of EVs with 100,000 miles plus still on original brake pads

I put 220,000 miles on my 2010 Prius on the original brake pads. Even after 11 years/220,000 miles, they couldn't estimate the wear because there was too much pad left to accurately estimate (per the mechanic at the shop I took it too).

Regen = long brake pad life, so long as you use it properly.

 

[MPawelek]

Unlike many folks I coast a lot to stops. After 49 years of driving, 7 pick up trucks and 14 cars, most with 85-110k miles I have never had any brake work done at all. I have a long time friend who goes from stomping on the accelerator to stomping on the brake pedal over and over and is replacing pads every three years or so…..

 

[hmp10]

So you really can’t coast in the car, right? How do you go down a steep hill with regen? Just put your foot on the accelerator a bit?

I don't think you can actually coast in a Lucid. If you back off the accelerator, you go into regen mode where motor braking is engaged to some extent. You control that extent with your foot position on the accelerator pedal. It may sound confusing, but it's actually very intuitive. People do a lot of modulating of both brake and acceleration pedals without realizing it or thinking about it. The only difference is that you modulate both acceleration and braking with one pedal in the Lucid -- which is a lot less aggravating than switching back and forth between pedals.