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You will find lots of sympathetic ears in this thread:

I personally have never driven OPD and am trying to get used to it. Not sure what I think yet, I am glad the ID.4 has a traditional mode available. You do get lots of regen when you initially press the brake pedal (blended braking), so the jury is out as to which is more efficient.
 

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Discussion Starter · #3 ·
You will find lots of sympathetic ears in this thread:

I personally have never driven OPD and am trying to get used to it. Not sure what I think yet, I am glad the ID.4 has a traditional mode available. You do get lots of regen when you initially press the brake pedal (blended braking), so the jury is out as to which is more efficient.
Once you go One Pedal Driving, you never want to go back
 

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In the test drives I have done, I have hated using the B mode, can't image liking OPD. Glad the ID has the D mode.
 
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Originally I hated 'B' mode, and figured I would never use it after doing the test drives, but after owning the car for over a month now I find myself putting it in 'B' mode when driving city streets and heavy traffic (where the easy stopping is actually very easy over the traditional coasting). But when doing more open driving, 'D' mode is preferred for me so I can rest my foot off the accelerator for brief moments at a time without the jarring effect of breaking. As I get more comfortable with the mode, I might use it even more, but that just takes time.
Also, I would like it to be able to come to a complete stop as that would make it even better in traffic situations.
One last note, I do not use traffic assist when in heavy traffic as cars ahead of me that change into my lane quickly causes the system to react by stopping too fast and the car behind me might not always have enough time to avoid hitting me (I cannot control their distance to me), so I only use that when on long trips with open road (just in case someone wanted to say I could use that instead of 'B' mode in traffic).
 

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One last note, I do not use traffic assist when in heavy traffic as cars ahead of me that change into my lane quickly causes the system to react by stopping too fast and the car behind me might not always have enough time to avoid hitting me...
Try using it while actively managing the throttle inputs here and there. Anticipate a car changing into your lane and add some throttle so that you can control an appropriate rate of deceleration. Same when a car ahead exits: if it slows prior to leaving the lane and the ID.4 system doesn't pick up its lane departure, give a little throttle to keep up speed instead of letting it slow inappropriately.

For most instances in heavy traffic, it can still be used "feet off." It really doesn't care if you're on the throttle pedal the entire time it's switched on.

If the system is active, even if you're on the throttle a bit, it's more likely to pick up panic stop situations and help you out.
 

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That is good advice, but I would still need to get more comfortable and confident in the system first. That will eventually come with time and use of the system. That approach has helped me learn to like 'B' mode, so it will eventually work the same fore this. Thanks for the advice, I will keep it in mind when I am brave enough to try it out in that situation. ;)
 

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It's not debatable which of the two is more efficient (OPD is less efficient than coasting) but that's a separate issue from one's preference of pedal feel.
So you must have numbers to back that up right?

In OPD, you are probably slowing down slower so longer period to regen (lower KW thus lower amp).
In coasting, you are probably braking harder so shorter period to regen (higher KW thus higher amp) and you may actually engage the physical brakes.
With the same wire, of course, higher amp generates more heat. And physical brakes, of course, does not regen into the battery and instead wears out the brake pad and generates heat.
Seems to me it's the other way around.
I do not have any kind of degree in engineering but I did stay at a Holiday Inn many years ago.
 

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I do not have any kind of degree in engineering
It's physics rather than engineering.

Until someone creates a regenerative system that can produce more energy than is put into it (>100% efficiency), it's more efficient to not expend energy than it is to expend and recapture it.

You're using an example of someone with inefficient driving technique compared to someone who drives with a more efficient technique--but that's not the same as a comparison between coasting and regenerative braking. A driver using efficient technique will achieve better efficiency than one who has inefficient technique and that same person will achieve even better efficiency using a coasting technique than a regenerative one.

If you want the mathematical equations to visualize what I explained you'd need to search some forums from a couple decades ago when hyper-milers were perfecting the pulse and glide method.

I don't know why OPD is held in such high regard. It was a kludge to the an early Tesla Roadster's engineering problem and it's presenting a whole new set of problems the more our motors increase in hp/torque output.
 

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I don't know why OPD is held in such high regard. It was a kludge to the an early Tesla Roadster's engineering problem and it's presenting a whole new set of problems the more our motors increase in hp/torque output.
I 100% agree with this. I mean different stokes for different folks, but I find it underwhelming and am constantly surprised when I see people post that they will only choose EVs that offer OPD.
 

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I 100% agree with this. I mean different stokes for different folks, but I find it underwhelming and am constantly surprised when I see people post that they will only choose EVs that offer OPD.
I tend to agree with this as well, but I will say that having started use of the 'B' mode when in traffic situations (or lots of city stop and go driving), the ability to not have to move my foot over to the break would be very nice to have. Not something that I 'must' have, but it would be a nice option. I do prefer the 'D' mode otherwise though, as it is very nice to be able to relax my foot off the accelerator from time to time and coast without the car slowing down when I don't need to.
As anecdotal evidence, it seems to me that when in 'B' mode the car tends to break more fluidly, compared to the more difficult press that is needed when in 'D' mode, at least it seems that way to me.
 

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I tend to agree with this as well, but I will say that having started use of the 'B' mode when in traffic situations (or lots of city stop and go driving), the ability to not have to move my foot over to the break would be very nice to have. Not something that I 'must' have, but it would be a nice option.
That would be a nice option. To be clear, though, you're describing "creep" rather than OPD. The two are often conflated even though they are unrelated.
 

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I'll add that, IMO, driving in B-mode at higher speeds feels like the car is fighting me ever so slightly. Its not a bad feeling necessarily, but I can definitely feel a difference when I switch into D-mode at higher speeds. The car immediately feels lighter and freer in D-mode than it did in B-mode.
 

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It's physics rather than engineering.

Until someone creates a regenerative system that can produce more energy than is put into it (>100% efficiency), it's more efficient to not expend energy than it is to expend and recapture it.

You're using an example of someone with inefficient driving technique compared to someone who drives with a more efficient technique--but that's not the same as a comparison between coasting and regenerative braking. A driver using efficient technique will achieve better efficiency than one who has inefficient technique and that same person will achieve even better efficiency using a coasting technique than a regenerative one.

If you want the mathematical equations to visualize what I explained you'd need to search some forums from a couple decades ago when hyper-milers were perfecting the pulse and glide method.

I don't know why OPD is held in such high regard. It was a kludge to the an early Tesla Roadster's engineering problem and it's presenting a whole new set of problems the more our motors increase in hp/torque output.
There is your misunderstanding. Driving in L/B does not mean you are constantly speeding up and down, unless you have some medical condition or are falling asleep. So while on the highway, efficiency should be the same. Now, if you are falling asleep, you are safer on L/B mode as when you crash, it should be at a lower speed.

So again,

In OPD, you are probably slowing down slower so longer period to regen (lower KW thus lower amp).
In coasting, you are probably braking harder so shorter period to regen (higher KW thus higher amp) and you may actually engage the physical brakes.
With the same wire, of course, higher amp generates more heat. And physical brakes, of course, does not regen into the battery and instead wears out the brake pad and generates heat.
Seems to me it's the other way around.

And yes, it is Engineering... EE to be exact since we are talking electrical energy.
 

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There is your misunderstanding. Driving in L/B does not mean you are constantly speeding up and down, unless you have some medical condition or are falling asleep. So while on the highway, efficiency should be the same. Now, if you are falling asleep, you are safer on L/B mode as when you crash, it should be at a lower speed.

So again,

In OPD, you are probably slowing down slower so longer period to regen (lower KW thus lower amp).
In coasting, you are probably braking harder so shorter period to regen (higher KW thus higher amp) and you may actually engage the physical brakes.
With the same wire, of course, higher amp generates more heat. And physical brakes, of course, does not regen into the battery and instead wears out the brake pad and generates heat.
Seems to me it's the other way around.

And yes, it is Engineering... EE to be exact since we are talking electrical energy.
I have to agree with ExCivilian here. You are describing inefficient driving styles/scenarios. In the same vein, you can imagine a scenario when in B-mode you hold your speed with the accelerator until the very last moment required for regen braking to slow you to a stop. This is less efficient than anticipating your stop and allowing the car to coast naturally to a gradual stop, maybe requiring only gentle use of the brake pedal, which is entirely regen. Coasting is more efficient than slowing down via regenerative braking because you are utilizing the energy you already "paid" for instead of trying to get that energy back into the battery inefficiently. In D-mode, it is entirely possible in numerous driving scenarios to anticipate a necessary slow-down and ride out your coast until you've gently slowed to the necessary speed. Similarly, it is entirely possible to anticipate braking early enough that you only gently use the brake pedal so that you never tap into using the physical brakes. In the real world, you obviously can't always optimally ride out your coast or avoid a hard brake, but that does not mean that coasting is less efficient than regen braking. It simply means that in that specific driving scenario, B-mode might have been the more optimal mode.
 

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You will find lots of sympathetic ears in this thread:

I personally have never driven OPD and am trying to get used to it. Not sure what I think yet, I am glad the ID.4 has a traditional mode available. You do get lots of regen when you initially press the brake pedal (blended braking), so the jury is out as to which is more efficient.
I also miss using double-clutching the transmission, setting the choke, and setting the spark advance. I'm happy that VW kept creep and eliminated OPD so that the ID.4 wouldn't be too modern or too easy to drive. Driving isn't really driving unless it takes multiple pedals.

I also miss the vibration and the stink of the ICE, but at least VW made the noisemaker really loud so you cannot relax when you drive it. They also made sure it wasn't too fast off the line; that would embarrass ICE cars.
ICE forever !!!!!
 
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