One-pedal driving and adjustable regen braking is back at Tesla

Tesla owners have yet another reason to celebrate - the long-gone regen adjustement is making its way back through an OTA update. Tesla banished the settings back in 2020 when it decided that drivers don’t need to be playing around with how strong the regen is. Back then the company set the regenerative braking to the strongest level and locked the users out of the menu.

Just like the round steering wheel making a comeback to Tesla Model S and Model X (although the yoke is back with a vengeance), the adjustable regenerative braking is back. The company confirmed it is a part of the latest OTA upgrade that’s on the way to Tesla vehicles.

Why is it such a big thing? Well, regen braking is one of the cleverest things about electric cars. When an electric car slows down, it uses its electric motor to put some of the energy back into the battery thus extending the range. The numbers aren’t huge but can add a few miles here and there.

The issue is that in some situations regen can be detrimental, a lot of people don’t feel safe driving in snow or on icy surfaces with the regen fully on. In the worst-case scenario, the vehicle can become uncontrollable and that’s why manufacturers offer the option to adjust the strength - from nothing all the way to one-pedal driving when the electric motors can slow the car down to a full stop.

Tesla decided in 2020 that the most efficient way to drive its vehicles was with the regen set in “high”. The new options are “standard” and ”low” with the last option limiting the regen and allowing the vehicle to coast. The regen cannot be fully disconnected though and it will always slow the car down as soon as the driver takes the foot off the accelerator.

Regen braking can be tricky to get used to for new EV drivers who spent their lives driving legacy vehicles. Having the ability to adjust it makes a lot of sense, it makes the learning curve a bit easier. Some people simply don’t like regen and some will argue that regen in snow is dangerous - well, now they have the option to turn it all the way down.

Is it yet another climb down from Tesla? What’s next? Are the parking sensors making their way back, and is LiDAR going to sneak back in at some point? For now, Tesla keeps everybody guessing about the next week’s prices and which features are leaving, and which will make a comeback.

Via