Paddles vs Pedal

[David Towle]

I did an inadvertent experiment on my Clarity. There was a lot of rain last night, probably with some salt on the roads, so my brake discs must have started out pretty rusty today. I pulled out unusually with the radio off, and made my first (very gentle) stop with just the brake pedal, not the paddles, and heard a lot of graunching /grinding noise. I made the next stop with the paddles and of course there was silence. At that point I realized the difference, so made a third gentle stop with the brakes and there was more of the grinding noise but not so loud as some of the rust got removed.

So I now believe that when you use the brake pedal you are getting a combination of regen and real braking from the start of pedal travel. I don't know how the brakes could work smoothly anyway if that didn't happen. Some on this list have thought the brake pedal was just regen initially but I now don't think that is the case.

I will try to repeat this test after future rain/snowstorms to verify it happens again, and I hope others will too.

 

[insightman]

I did an inadvertent experiment on my Clarity. There was a lot of rain last night, probably with some salt on the roads, so my brake discs must have started out pretty rusty today. I pulled out unusually with the radio off, and made my first (very gentle) stop with just the brake pedal, not the paddles, and heard a lot of graunching /grinding noise. I made the next stop with the paddles and of course there was silence. At that point I realized the difference, so made a third gentle stop with the brakes and there was more of the grinding noise but not so loud as some of the rust got removed.

So I now believe that when you use the brake pedal you are getting a combination of regen and real braking from the start of pedal travel. I don't know how the brakes could work smoothly anyway if that didn't happen. Some on this list have thought the brake pedal was just regen initially but I now don't think that is the case.

I will try to repeat this test after future rain/snowstorms to verify it happens again, and I hope others will too.

A brilliant way to test the pedal vs paddle! You may have just elevated the paddle in importance and utility.

 

[KentuckyKen]

Just remember that it also depends on your speed. At very low speeds, the regen turns down and then off and it’s all friction brakes. You can tell this by looking at the power meter when stopping. So at higher speeds the pedal still could possibly be using just regen until it needs to friction brake even if at the final low speed of your stop you hear the pads engage.
How fast were you going when you heard this? Could you repeat it at a higher speed; as in leadfooting it to your first stop next time?
Thanks