Drive modes - do they work ?

[Ironhorse]

My gravity’s FDU was recently replaced. In the 5-6 days I had it prior to the replacement I am sure I felt a difference in driving and pickup across 3 modes. This was with the 3.3.2 firmware.

Over the past 4-5 days since the replacement, and with the 3.3.5 update seems like all modes appear to feel the same.

Are you guys able to make out differences in the modes on your end ? Just want to do a sanity check.

 

[037]

My gravity’s FDU was recently replaced. In the 5-6 days I had it prior to the replacement I am sure I felt a difference in driving and pickup across 3 modes. This was with the 3.3.2 firmware.

Over the past 4-5 days since the replacement, and with the 3.3.5 update seems like all modes appear to feel the same.

Are you guys able to make out differences in the modes on your end ? Just want to do a sanity check.

Sometime in December I plan to explore that and get some hard data using a Dragy. Need to do a laser jammer and radar detector install first and that’s 3-4 weeks out.

 

[eelpout]

speaking of modes, there is no "Snow" mode, correct?

The manual mentioned in passing in the charging section a "Terrain Mode." I think at least one YouTube video mentioned that's coming in a future update. Hope that comes with some kind of hill descent control.

 

[037]

speaking of modes, there is no "Snow" mode, correct?

The manual mentioned in passing in the charging section a "Terrain Mode." I think at least one YouTube video mentioned that's coming in a future update. Hope that comes with some kind of hill descent control.

You can raise the suspension to high and set regen to high, welcome to snow mode

 

[Pragmatic]

I think for snow I'd want regen on low or possibly off.

 

[zoomzoom]

I can fairly easily tell the difference in how tight/road connected the steering is between modes. I can also easily detect suspension stiffness in sprint. Sprint acceleration also very obviously faster, the most obvious change by far.

Swift is harder to detect outside of tightening up the steering a bit.

 

[hwy17er]

You can raise the suspension to high and set regen to high, welcome to snow mode

I think for snow I'd want regen on low or possibly off.

Hmmm...I'm used to driving a stick shift in snow. Raising the ride height on Gravity is obvious but can anyone with lots of experience driving EV's in snow comment on the use of regen on high or low in snow?

 

[borski]

Hmmm...I'm used to driving a stick shift in snow. Raising the ride height on Gravity is obvious but can anyone with lots of experience driving EV's in snow comment on the use of regen on high or low in snow?

Sudden deceleration, just like sudden acceleration, can cause wheels to slip/skid. You’d want regen to be off.

From the manual:
WARNING: High regenerative braking can cause an increase in frequency of traction control interventions when driving the vehicle in snowy/icy conditions. Lucidrecommends switching to Standard level when driving in such conditions to avoid excessive traction control interventions.
Although you may need to use the brake pedal to stop in certain situations, you can take advantage of regenerative braking by anticipating your stops and reducing accelerator pedal position.

 

[037]

My comment for high regen was meant for hill descent control, fyi

 

[Pragmatic]

In a manual I've always operated one gear higher in snow. It dampens movement of the throttle pedal making it easier to modulate power to the wheels. I also usually disable traction control when ascending hills since it can prematurely cut power causing loss of forward momentum. Of cause if doing this you must be comfortable controlling any slides that occur.

 

[037]

In a manual I've always operated one gear higher in snow. It dampens movement of the throttle pedal making it easier to modulate power to the wheels. I also usually disable traction control when ascending hills since it can prematurely cut power causing loss of forward momentum. Of cause if doing this you must be comfortable controlling any slides that occur.

Do you mean one gear lower? I do one gear lower to have more easily accessible power and resulting higher rpm.

 

[Pragmatic]

One gear higher, lower rpm, so pedal movements are dampened. Of course you must anticipate downshifts and do them quickly so you don't lose forward momentum.

 

[socktucker]

Sudden deceleration, just like sudden acceleration, can cause wheels to slip/skid. You’d want regen to be off.

From the manual:
WARNING: High regenerative braking can cause an increase in frequency of traction control interventions when driving the vehicle in snowy/icy conditions. Lucidrecommends switching to Standard level when driving in such conditions to avoid excessive traction control interventions.
Although you may need to use the brake pedal to stop in certain situations, you can take advantage of regenerative braking by anticipating your stops and reducing accelerator pedal position.

this guy always reading the manual

 

[037]

One gear higher, lower rpm, so pedal movements are dampened. Of course you must anticipate downshifts and do them quickly so you don't lose forward momentum.

Not sure what kind of snow you drive in and how much power your vehicle had, not to get stuck I always went with the lower effort and higher power mode (lower gear), in a high gear stepping on the gas results in low power and makes forward momentum, at least for me, that much harder to control.

 

[borski]

this guy always reading the manual

I read it once lol

 

[Gandalf]

I read it once lol

Sudden deceleration, just like sudden acceleration, can cause wheels to slip/skid. You’d want regen to be off.

From the manual:
WARNING: High regenerative braking can cause an increase in frequency of traction control interventions when driving the vehicle in snowy/icy conditions. Lucidrecommends switching to Standard level when driving in such conditions to avoid excessive traction control interventions.
Although you may need to use the brake pedal to stop in certain situations, you can take advantage of regenerative braking by anticipating your stops and reducing accelerator pedal position.

I think that a lot of this snow-related discussion is ignoring the traction control and ABS features of the car. Haven't had a chance to test my GGT in snow yet, but 3 winters in the AGT made me realize that the car handles snow briliantly.
First of all, it's heavy, which seems to increase traction. But beyond that, after many many trips to the mountains for skiing, I've never felt more solidly attached to the road, even in very slick conditions. Coming down a steep mountain pass, heavy traffic, snowing like crazy and icy corners, I'd see other cars slip and slide, while I felt glued to the road. Regen or no regen, the car is a snow monster. That said, I really appreciate the adjustable ride height in the Gravity for really deep conditions.

 

[eelpout]

I think that a lot of this snow-related discussion is ignoring the traction control and ABS features of the car. Haven't had a chance to test my GGT in snow yet, but 3 winters in the AGT made me realize that the car handles snow briliantly.

curious what tires you had on the Air for winter driving?

"Snow mode" on Land/Range Rovers decreases the range of power from the pedal, so it's less possible for wheel spin; nice when it's truly dumping or on icy surfaces. Use that a lot in the Sierras.

From mountain driving experience, I prefer regen off and sometimes use a creep mode on an EV for winter driving (BMW, Tesla, Rivian and Polestar... lots of rentals )

Oh, and just to note, you can't keep a Gravity in "Highest" suspension much beyond ~30-35 MPH, it's going to lower itself. Unsure when "High" disengages, but I imagine it's in that speed ballpark or slightly higher.

 

[Gandalf]

curious what tires you had on the Air for winter driving?

"Snow mode" on Land/Range Rovers decreases the range of power from the pedal, so it's less possible for wheel spin; nice when it's truly dumping or on icy surfaces. Use that a lot in the Sierras.

From mountain driving experience, I prefer regen off and sometimes use a creep mode on an EV for winter driving (BMW, Tesla, Rivian and Polestar... lots of rentals )

Oh, and just to note, you can't keep a Gravity in "Highest" suspension much beyond ~30-35 MPH, it's going to lower itself. Unsure when "High" disengages, but I imagine it's in that speed ballpark or slightly higher.

Pirelli Sottozero- they work great. And if I have to raise the suspension to get through 2 feet of snow, I'm not going to be driving very fast...

 

[hwy17er]

this guy always reading the manual

Huh?...if he read the manual he quoted it says right there Lucid recommends Standard Regen in snowy/icy conditions, not off.

Do you mean one gear lower? I do one gear lower to have more easily accessible power and resulting higher rpm.

With a stick shift I always use the gears and downshift, esp around downhill corners, using the engine/transmission to control the vehicle's speed...RPM be damned. It just feels safer than stepping on the brakes so I'm in agreement being on top of downshifting is key.

Anyways, I just wondered if Regen in an EV similarly uses the motor to control speed or if it's too abrupt and starts you off ice skating in a 6000lb vehicle!
Sounds like high regen does just that to the point where @borski, @Pragmatic, and others don't find that so fun and prefer to have it off.
From the way I read this paragraph in the manual, Lucid seems to think the Standard regen setting may similarly let the motor help control velocity w/o skidding.

Appreciate everyone's input. Creep rather than hold sounds wise and perhaps Lucid feels having some regen can also counteract a bit of the decrease in range with cold weather driving, who knows?

Looking forward to testing all of it when I take delivery and toss some M + S (3PMSF) tires on it for Tahoe