I love my Model S and especially being able to drive it mostly with just the accelerator pedal contributes a lot to the very positive driving experience. It makes driving so much simpler than constantly going between accelerator and brake.
Having said that I really wish regenerative braking would make the car come to a stop rather than fading out at around 5 mph. BMW's i3 does this. It allows you to stop the car perfectly smooth. In the Model S I have to switch to the brake which, by nature, has the effect of making the car come to a stop with a slight jolt when the brake pads go from friction to holding the rotor still. That transition is never smooth causing a slight jerk and metallic noise. I know its common to every vehicle with friction brakes. But the example of the i3 shows that by using the electric motor, stopping the car can be made 100% smooth matching the otherwise perfectly smooth ride of an EV. This could be done entirely via software, similar to 'creep' that was introduced with an earlier firmware.
Of course the next question is, what happens after you stopped the car using just the electric motor. Does it go into 'neutral' which could cause the car to roll because we don't have the foot on the brake? Or will it continue to hold the car still? I think it should. And if I understand correctly, that is what the i3 does. When you come to a stop, even at a hill, it will hold the car preventing any roll back or forward. Yes at speeds below 5 mph there is no regen. The speed is too low to generate power. What the drive inverter and electronics do is creating a perfectly smooth transition from actual regen (down to 5 pmh or whatever it is) to feeding a slight amount of 'reverse power' to make the car come to a complete stop. The power needed to do this is so small that it's not in any way a concern. For lower periods of standing still it could simply switch to friction brakes just like the Model S already does with it's so called 'hill assist' feature. It engages and holds the brake when you let go of the brake pedal and then let's go as soon as you press the accelerator.
I sent this as a suggestion to Tesla. Hopefully it will become at least an option (like creep) in the future.
Having said that I really wish regenerative braking would make the car come to a stop rather than fading out at around 5 mph. BMW's i3 does this. It allows you to stop the car perfectly smooth. In the Model S I have to switch to the brake which, by nature, has the effect of making the car come to a stop with a slight jolt when the brake pads go from friction to holding the rotor still. That transition is never smooth causing a slight jerk and metallic noise. I know its common to every vehicle with friction brakes. But the example of the i3 shows that by using the electric motor, stopping the car can be made 100% smooth matching the otherwise perfectly smooth ride of an EV. This could be done entirely via software, similar to 'creep' that was introduced with an earlier firmware.
Of course the next question is, what happens after you stopped the car using just the electric motor. Does it go into 'neutral' which could cause the car to roll because we don't have the foot on the brake? Or will it continue to hold the car still? I think it should. And if I understand correctly, that is what the i3 does. When you come to a stop, even at a hill, it will hold the car preventing any roll back or forward. Yes at speeds below 5 mph there is no regen. The speed is too low to generate power. What the drive inverter and electronics do is creating a perfectly smooth transition from actual regen (down to 5 pmh or whatever it is) to feeding a slight amount of 'reverse power' to make the car come to a complete stop. The power needed to do this is so small that it's not in any way a concern. For lower periods of standing still it could simply switch to friction brakes just like the Model S already does with it's so called 'hill assist' feature. It engages and holds the brake when you let go of the brake pedal and then let's go as soon as you press the accelerator.
I sent this as a suggestion to Tesla. Hopefully it will become at least an option (like creep) in the future.