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[Richard230]

When nearing an intersection, going downhill or in any other situation that might look kind of dangerous, it is always a good idea to cover your brake levers and be ready to brake if something bad suddenly happens.

I agree that when slowing down or coming to a stop, if you have traffic behind you, you should apply your brakes lightly so as to activate your brake light and alert following drivers that you are there and slowing down.

[trikester]

I always cover my brake in traffic, even when using the handlebar sw.

Trikester

[BSDThw]

...the brake light at appropriate regen braking levels.  The lack of this feature is a safety issue with Zero in my opinion.

But if you use regen braking you use the brake => brakelight goes on. If you slow don't with neutral throttle it will be the same as you use the motorbraking force of an ICE and there is no brakelight either.

The Sevcon is able to activate an analog output when applying regen brake, which I use to activate the brakelight at my mod.

[trikester]

The advantage is that with 15% regen = no brake light, is similar to ICE compression braking. Faster slowing at 25% regen = brake light, warning the vehicle behind that rapid slowing is happening ahead.

Trikester

[BSDThw]

Trikester,

Do you know that each ECO/SPORT mode switch reprogram 4 cells inside the Secvon?

I know the µ-Controller and eeproms are durable nowadays but you should keep it in sight!

[wainair]

The regen braking/ brake light discussion has be a heated discussion over on gm-volt.com since the Volt  came out too. When I drive around in high regen mode in the Volt I'm always cautious of the traffic behind me and if the traffic is too heavy I leave the car in normal mode and use the brakes.  When it comes right down to it you have to judge the road around you. Just like you wouldn't down gear a manual tranny car when you are being tailgated you should consider the traffic behind you when you drive/ride with high regen.

 I really like Tesla's solution. I'm sure eventually every vehicle with regenerative braking will have a brake light activation system like that. It just makes the most sense.

[kingcharles]

+1 for the Vectrix multi function throttle.
Not only does it do regen when you roll back beyond zero while moving forward, at standstill it functions as a slow speed reverse!
When you activate regen it will activate the brake light.
If you lock up the rear wheel it will de-activate the regen and you will have to re-engage from zero. (poor mans ABS)

Try the Vectrix for 5 minutes and you will be fully used to the regen. It is very intuitive!
It is perfect for every single speed EV two wheeler.

I dislike the fact that some EV's do not activate the brake light under regen braking.
Also I think that an EV car should coast at zero throttle and that the brake padle should operate the regen.

[lolachampcar]

kingcharles
Drive the Model S for a while and you will be converted to truely graceful one pedal driving. 

[trikester]

Do you know that each ECO/SPORT mode switch reprogram 4 cells inside the Secvon?

I know the µ-Controller and eeproms are durable nowadays but you should keep it in sight!

Yes, we beat this subject to death on this forum and in communications with Zero, about six or eight months ago. Nobody at Zero quite knows what will happen when it is maxed out, except for a trouble warning. They guessed about 10K cycles but didn't know for sure.

The good news is: That Zero worked with Sevcon and eliminated this problem on the 2013's so from here on, with new bikes, it is not a concern.

Trikester


Trikester

[EastSider]

It is my understanding that the new phone app allows 2013 Zero owners to customize the regen in Eco mode?   

Yes, the amount of regen (while coasting) and regen braking are both customizable from 0 to 100%. I've left mine at 100% for regen while braking and 70% for regen while coasting, for now, because this is my first motorcycle and I'm really loving the regen brake effect while coasting. However, I can imagine the 70% getting to be too much in some situations. One thing I've noticed is that with a full charge and starting out downhill, the regen is spotty and with a full battery there is nothing more to regenerate, so it goes from a smooth coast to some braking and back, similar to the feeling I had in our old Honda civic hybrid when its battery was fully charged while heading downhill. But this 2013 DS is amazing!

EastSider

[trikester]

There have been postings on this forum about the lack of regen when the battery is full.

Also, when you set the regen level on the new bikes you are setting to a percentage of the built in limit, so setting 100% would be 25% regen.

Trikester

[kingcharles]

kingcharles
Drive the Model S for a while and you will be converted to truely graceful one pedal driving.

The idea is flawed and potentially dangerous. I can see drivers reaction to an emergency situation be that they push the accelerator in stead of the brake when they are performing regen. What I mean is that a driver could have a confused reaction to an emergency situation. Each pedal should have a unique function.

question:
Does the regen on a Tesla S activate the brake light?

[lolachampcar]

There is an accelerometer that turns on the brake light when the car is decelerating at more than an ICE coast down rate.

As for confusion, there is absolutely none.  Think of it as an aggressive coast down controlled by how far you lift off the throttle.  You still go for the brake when you have a problem.

[trikester]

I've wanted to put a rear brake lever on my left handle bar but since I also ride ICE bikes I'm afraid that in a panic stop I would grab that lever hard reacting as though it was a clutch. This is probably the reason that Zero doesn't put the rear brake there. It sure would be nice though, like when lowering myself down a nasty steep sand hill where touching the front brake would not be good. It's difficult to get a precise feathering of the rear brake using a clumsy foot.

Trikester

[flar]

The idea is flawed and potentially dangerous. I can see drivers reaction to an emergency situation be that they push the accelerator in stead of the brake when they are performing regen. What I mean is that a driver could have a confused reaction to an emergency situation. Each pedal should have a unique function.

One thing to consider is that you still use the brake every time you stop, and you would need it for anything more than a leisurely coast down.  Current cars do this as well with engine braking, but you don't see drivers having that sort of confusion.  This is more an issue of "stronger than normal coast-down qualities meet drivers retraining themselves to mellow out and rely more on coast-down" rather than "driver starts to believe that there is only one pedal that does anything for the car".  In the end, it won't stop on regen alone and your right foot remains quite familiar with where the brake is.

The same technique might happen more with ICE cars if their engine braking was stronger.

Also, I think they have plenty of data from the Roadster owners that they don't get confused.