I told my family yesterday after seeing these posts again. Press the brake pedal once you come to a stop. Period. We have four drivers in the house, and, currently, my Mini is the most requested vehicle when someone runs an errand!
The brake light DOES illuminate when I remove my foot from the throttle pedal. However, after regen braking brings the car to a stop, the brake lights go out (and, as you noted, the car can roll forward if there is a slight downhill--but there is no "creep" like ICE-cars with automatic transmissions have).I think it would be an easy software fix to program the brake light to illuminate once the throttle paddle senses that the foot is off or it returns to its resting position.
Wait, we know from this thread that when the SE's electric vacuum pump failed on @dmaxwell, "The brake pedal felt hard and the brakes did very little." So the brakes stopped being power brakes, but didn't go away completely. Doesn't that indicate the SE is conventionally "brake-by-fluid," rather than "brake-by-wire?"My experience would say yes, once the SE comes to a stop from the regenerative braking, the motor is providing friction to keep it from rolling in the wrong direction but the correct direction is "free", meaning the SE can be pushed or will roll on the slightest incline. The friction brakes do not seem engaged unless the brake pedal is depressed (or traction control is doing its thing, which wouldn't happen at rest).
Since the brake pedal is a "fly-by-wire" control – meaning it's not physically connected to the brake lines, but simply sends signals to the brake system – there could possibly be a software hack. But I don't think hacking the brakes is the first thing I'd mess around with...
I know it’s been a year but, I wanted to give this a try and was gonna order the 50, do you still have some?I was frustrated by not knowing when my MINI Cooper SE was autonomously illuminating its brake lights in response to regenerative braking. Rather than tape a piece of aluminum foil to the hatch to reflect the high-mounted, center brake light into the hatch window, I wired an LED in parallel with the center brake light and mounted it where I could see it in the rear-view mirror. I have put an illustrated step-by-step description of my modification online.
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After my visible brake light was operational, I was disappointed to discover how little regenerative braking is required to illuminate the brake lights. Regardless of whether I choose High-Energy Recovery or Low-Energy Recovery regenerative braking, I found the brake lights flash on and off frequently as I drive. I am using the indicator LED to train myself to know instinctively when I'm displaying brake lights to the car behind me.
Some tail-gating drivers see my MINI Cooper SE's display of brake lights as an aggressive driver-instigated signal to back off. Other drivers probably assume I'm carelessly driving with my left foot on the brake pedal. My goal is to prevent the brake lights from flashing on
and off in short, random-seeming bursts.
The most surprising and disturbing behavior I noted was that the brake lights go dark after the regenerative braking brings the MINI Cooper SE to a complete stop. So if you want to be sure the driver of the car coming up behind you realizes you are stopped, remember to use the brake pedal to illuminate the brake lights.
I wish the MINI engineers could have developed an artificial intelligence that would illuminate the brake lights more appropriately. Evidently, MINI's lawyers deemed even the level of deceleration typically provided by engine-braking in a gas-powered MINI to be dangerous without illuminating the brake lights of this electric vehicle. Where were those lawyers when it was decided a stopped MINI Cooper SE would not always illuminate its brake lights?
BTW, I have 48 of these LEDs left over because I had to buy 50 on Amazon.com. Anyone who wants a couple can PM me and I'll send them free of charge.
Fortunately, the box of 49 LEDs just popped up in my basement. PM me your address and I'll send you a couple.I know it’s been a year but, I wanted to give this a try and was gonna order the 50, do you still have some?
I was wondering just this morning about how often the brake lights are triggered using cruise control, and thought of @insightman's LED mod. Since the regenerative braking happens when the driver eases back on the "go" pedal, does cruise control speed control trigger brake lights at any time?
The other thing that came to mind recently is I don't see a lot of brake lights activating on Teslas. Do they never slow down, or maybe Teslas don't do regen (doubtful) or just not bother alerting other drivers when slowing?
With my 2021 SE, the brake lights come on when the instrument panel's power/charge needle touches the first regen block. I would be surprised if the 2022 behaves any differently under its adaptive cruise control.Since the regenerative braking happens when the driver eases back on the "go" pedal, does cruise control speed control trigger brake lights at any time?
Mine's a 2021 without adaptive cruise control and it has to adjust speed for hills, so even it should be doing some slowing down. Or, like I had to this morning, one accelerates past a badly-merging yahoo without disengaging cruise control, and letting the car resume preset speed.With my 2021 SE, the brake lights come on when the instrument panel's power/charge needle touches the first regen block. I would be surprised if the 2022 behaves any differently under its adaptive cruise control.
I was wondering just this morning about how often the brake lights are triggered using cruise control,
I don't think that's as much of a concern in the SE since I believe the traction control uses the friction brakes (because it's the same traction control as the ICE models). Although I'm not entirely sure that's how it works.Even in my wife's Tesla, we set it to "roll", after reading about the costly periodic rotor resurfacing from never needing the mechanical brakes (Tesla regen is high by default).
I don't think that's as much of a concern in the SE since I believe the traction control uses the friction brakes (because it's the same traction control as the ICE models). Although I'm not entirely sure that's how it works.