Brakes in ice and snow

[dmurphy]

Got to drive my S in the first time for the snow last week …. Had a long ~130 mile drive each way in the snowstorm, and made an interesting observation …. I do have Michelin X-Ice tires on the car, so the tread is equipped correctly.

I tend to really drive one-pedal as much as I can and mostly rely on just regen braking. Just nature of my driving - mostly try to anticipate stops from a dance and let regen handle things naturally when I can.

That said - after on the highway for an extended period of time - it almost felt like the hydraulic brakes ice over a bit. When actually using them, I felt like I wasn’t getting much grip. I didn’t slide but the braking felt very weak until regen kicked in.

On the return drive, I found that feathering in the hydraulic brake every dozen or so miles helped prevent the ice buildup and kept the brakes warm enough to work effectively.

Is this something in my head, or is there really something to this? Is it possible to use the hydraulic brakes so little that they can ice?

 

[DerbyDave]

Some autos automatically dry the brakes periodically in bad weather to make sure they are optimum for braking. Evidently, Tesla makes you do this manually, as the auto system would definitely decrease range.

 

[dmurphy]

Some autos automatically dry the brakes periodically in bad weather to make sure they are optimum for braking. Evidently, Tesla makes you do this manually, as the auto system would definitely decrease range.

It was somewhat surprising to me just how faded the brakes felt after driving in the storm for a while... the brakes really do stay cool. Again, a quick pump of them now and again seemed to clear them, but it had to be a conscious decision to do so. As you said - doing it automatically would be nice but at the cost of a little bit of range. I can't imagine it would be much though, and certainly worth it, lest the driver not know or understand what's happening.

I suspect that in a traditional ICE vehicle, just latent waste heat alone would keep at least some ice buildup from happening. Obviously there's incredibly little of that on an EV.

Just an observation, that's all. One more thing to be conscious of when driving in hazardous conditions.

 

[KalJoMoS]

I have the same experience as @dmurphy described. I’m also used to one-pedal driving and use the brakes at the very end of the stopping. I was surprised also after the change of the rotors and pads at front last October that the winter condition are that hard on the system. Before that weather change they did felt supreme. I now use my foot on the brakes at the last section always as this is clearing the contamination that can pile up. Well we have that kind of condition almost a three months in a row…