staffordian wrote:Sorry if I'm hijacking this fascinating discussion, but I wonder if anyone can answer a question I have about EVs in general. Most (all?) use regen in lieu of braking to slow down, and some can almost be driven using only the loud pedal where the level of regen is high enough for quite sharp braking.
I'm just wondering if this regen activates the brake lights.
I'm thinking of a scenario where an inattentive motorist is following an EV and whether a sudden relatively sharp deceleration might catch a following driver unprepared should this not be the case.
Watching our BEV from behind I think the the answer is that clever technology decides the answer. If the regeneration is very gentle nothing happens, if it is like normal gentle braking in an ICE car or more severe, the brake lights come on. I believe this is true if the car's cruise control holds the speed constant going downhill but I haven't actually checked this for the current car.
The collision avoidance system in the KIA is the same as in any new car whatever its fuel. In the event of an imminent collision the brakes will come on whatever the driver does. It was certainly true for our previous Golf.
In practice our BEV behaves almost exactly like a ICE car in virtually all respects unless, like me, you play with the regeneration controls when the driving experience can be slightly different. So, if you choose this, in city driving, the car will keep a sensible distance from the vehicle in front and will match its speed and will stop as the traffic stops. However one can reduce the automatic braking and just use the foot brakes like any other car. Ironically then one still gets the same regeneration effect but has the tiresome responsibility of pushing a brake pedal with one's foot!
regards
Howard