Many electric cars come with a selector that allows the driver to choose a regen level. What I'm suggesting would be the addition of a switch/paddle that would allow the driver to jump from the mode they had chosen to coasting instantaneously. It could be used on hills or when there's a long stretch where you would be slowing down like coming off a highway. Coasting is the most efficient use of the car's momentum and would add additional efficiency to the Aptera's already impressive mileage. The button/paddle would ideally be in a place that the driver can easily reach it without taking their hands off the wheel such as a dedicated button or a paddle on the steering wheel. Once engaged it could be disengaged by pressing the accelerator, the brake or by pressing the button/lever again almost like a reverse cruise control which would then put it back into the original chosen driving mode.
As someone who's driven manual cars and motorcycles my whole life I feel I might miss the lack of transmission. A dedicated coast feature would be like having neutral, allowing the driver to take some control back and adding to the fun of driving it (not that the aptera doesn't sound fun). It would allow people who want to use it to get a bit more mileage out of the battery and for those who don't it wouldn't get in the way.
I don't know if this is possible with in-wheel motors and no transmission but I figured I'd throw the idea out there.
@Raj Giandeep The 2013 Leaf appears to have a tactile shift knob & the selected mode clearly displayed on the speedo, so it seems that you mean you want Aptera to be like that...:
One Aptera vid showed a nice tactile steering column shifter stalk, so you should be good there. Aptera has no speedo screen, but it could display the mode & speed almost as close, at the center screen's top left corner.
I have a 2013 Nissan Leaf & I coast in neutral often. Would love an easy way to switch between neutral & drive without looking at the screen.
"To each their own": Driving an i3 myself, I find it irritating that when I punch it the power only builds slowly. It deprives me of choosing between slow power, or the instant power of an eGolf or 500e.
eGolf has go-pedal sensitivity adjustments for both power & regen. I set them both to max. Then I have a choice. If I want a slow reaction for power or regen, I simply move the pedal slowly.
Personally I prefer regen that matches the abruptness of backing off in a low gear with a stickshift or motorbike. That is ideal for heavy traffic & also for spirited cornering, because I can choose the level of acceleration/deceleration just by how much I move my foot.
For your sake, I hope it's adjustable however you want. That would be even easier for them to add than the also-desirable on-the-fly control. Although now that I think of it, they wouldn't need to add paddles. Just plain old-fashioned steering wheel buttons like I use for "manually adaptable cruise" in traffic. A paddle or even Fiat-like BACK of wheel buttons would be better though.
Driving an I3 I find the regeneration to be too abrupt and difficult to control. I am hoping that the regeneration will slowly build to full regeneration. This could give a controllable coasting feel while keeping a strong regen
After driving the well-designed eGolf & then the bad Leaf 2.0, I was already convinced that regen should be adjustable while moving.
Fortunately, Aptera most likely has an override "button" included with its shifter: "N" in an EV turns off the motor(s) for coasting.
Aptera has 0-4 setting for regen, but no override button. You are stuck on your setting until you can reprogram it. If you can dynamically select 0-4 without taking your hand off the wheel, I can make it work. But if you have to select from a menu on screen, it's not the same. No need for me to try and convince you, I just hope Aptera understands the dynamic benefit.
Oh! I thought we were done, since Aptera does include the requested coasting option.
Yes, it's nice when regen can be adjusted on the fly, like an eGolf. I had to STOP in the Leaf 2.0 to switch on 1-pedal mode! eGolf just clicks in or out of its highest level with the shifter, while moving. I think the button for level 1 & 2 also works while moving. It's nice on long downhills to be able to use the shifter to choose between level 3 & 4 as needed, without ever touching the pedal, & on the rare hills that are exactly the right slope for coasting, just shift one notch up to N.
Case 1: Just like a gas pedal, the go pedal is not an on/off switch. Just like a gas pedal, I don't need to hold its position as described, waiting until it becomes appropriate to release it completely. Rather, I immediately lift my foot an appropriate amount to try to either arrive at the red light stopped via the lightest possible steady efficient regen, or arrive just as it turns green, with as much speed as possible. No, I can't time it exactly, any better than you can time exactly when to start coasting. Or in the rare instance that coasting is appropriate, I hit the coast button. In my 500e it's marked as "N" 😉
Case 2: If regen is "off" at zero, when you see the yellow light, just release the pedal to coast. I put "off" in quotes since it's only "off" of the go pedal, coming on as always with the brake pedal. The other opportunities listed are also covered by just releasing the go pedal.
I've driven over 5 years almost exclusively in EVs, in all sorts of traffic from none to stop&go, at all speeds & slopes including wicked-steep hills & very long downhills. Mostly in my 500e with unadjustable very light regen on full pedal release. When I see a distant yellow light or traffic slow-down I nearly always end up having to move my foot to the left pedal to add regen. Most drivers wish for more, go-pedal regen. Then there's no delay, including in traffic or corners, where you would have needed to move your foot to the other pedal. I also prefer the ability to regen to a full stop like eGolf, but Fiat friction brakes always wastefully activate below 6mph. Let's hope Aptera has the good option there, too.
Aha! Aptera's regen off "coast" mode confirmed in recent zoom call summary spreadsheet cell B29 here:
"Aptera will offer adjustable levels in 3 or 4 settings, from off to very heavy regen braking."
I just hope its level 4 is strong enough for real 1-pedal driving. eGolf level 4 is not, even though its level 1 is above zero. It's like "extra-weak", "weak", "mild", "not-quite-strong-enough".
My aero point was just that for Aptera there may not be such a gigantic difference by changing average speed a few mph, like there is in any other EV, which in THEM makes cabin heat a very distant 2nd, but that may not apply quite so much to Aptera.
I have no idea how to select N in an Aptera, but in my Fiat EV I just hit the N button like any push-button tranny, & in an eGolf you move the shift lever one click forward, just like any floor-shift "automatic". In my case it switches off all power in or out of the motor, whether it has windings or not. I haven't checked yet that an eGolf also switches off power in, but it's highly likely since both are Bosch systems.
I wrote my prior posts from memory, & upon considering it while driving, I realized I can't really feel the 0%, nor is it all that easy to keep the gauge at 0. I do stand by my point about it only coming into play so rarely as to make very little difference. My driving is typically fairly rapid acceleration, then fairly steady speed/power, then 1/10 second at 0% a I transition to deceleration with light to strong regen. That includes lots of slowing super-early when a distant light goes yellow, to "coast" with minimum regen to give it time to go green so I avoid a full stop.
Most drivers of EVs, including me, wish for more regen on the right pedal for "1-pedal" driving, like sporty driving in a stick. Many also say they really like the cars with "fingertip braking" regen-increasing steering wheel paddles. It seems to me that cars should simply allow right-pedal regen to be adjustable in the menu, or even while driving, from zero (motor off but coasting without regen for the people listed above) to fairly strong regen braking, like strong engine braking in a sportscar with a big engine (for me). I believe I read that Aptera has 4 regen levels to select from, like an eGolf. If one of them is zero, there's your coasting mode: Just take your foot off the go-pedal.
Aerodynamics don't really come into play here as we're discussing hypermiling an Aptera vs one pedaling an Aptera. So it's a wash. But I agree coast down is aero dependant.
I'm confused, How do you select neutral in an Aptera? How do you select neutral with windings off? Are you saying both are 0% pedal? (That's what I'm assuming). I don't even know if the wheel motors are permanent magnets or not so "windings off" may not make sense.
I guess the whole point here is, finding and maintaining pedal 0% by feel or looking at a guage isn't as easy or efficient as pulling a coast paddle and relaxing your pedal foot. There are battery losses as you modulate the pedal between +1% and -1%. Regen is only 75% efficient, and propulsion is similar so you lose on each transition.
Keep in mind that with any current BEV, by a GIGANTIC margin by FAR, the biggest hypermiling efficiency factor is airspeed* (ground speed + or minus head/tailwind). So +1% or -1% efficiency pales very greatly by comparison, never mind that coasting itself is probably only 1% of a typical drive. In other words, if you want to gain 5% efficiency, just hold your right foot a few mm higher. I can alter my EV's efficiency by 50%, just by driving fast or moderate (let alone "slow"). Even cranking its wasteful resistance heater pales greatly by comparison to that.
*Aptera may differ since it's SO much more aerodynamic.
Yes, there are actually two coasting equivalents with an EV, as described above: Coast in neutral with the "engine" off (useful on long downhills with the exact right slope/speed ratio), or coast with the pedal in the neutral position which "turns off all the windings that are energized or any electrics that introduce drag or reduce range."
I easily find 0% by feel, as well as with my car's motor kW display on the speedo. If a bump or twitch momentarily takes me to +1%, I still gain most of that back again as I slow back down at -1% or more. Just like in a gas car, I rest my foot against the center console to more easily maintain steady speed when cruise control is off. On that note, I use cruise even in traffic, since most people don't vary their speed by more than 1 or 2mph, which I can adapt to with just the + & - buttons (1 tap = 1mph) as long as I'm not following too close. On THAT note, other 500e users report even better hiway mileage than with cruise, by drafting.
Even without one pedal drive, Acceleration, Regen and Coasting is included in the accelerator pedal travel. I know because my EV doesn't have 1-pedal, just very weak regen on pedal-release, but that still means the pedal has a 0% coast position.
Let me stay with my hypermiler analogy. To me, one pedal drive is like coasting in neutral. It's good, but it's not flying. I want to coast in neutral with the engine off.
So is there an equivalent with an EV? I want a button that turns off all the windings that are energized or any electrics that introduce drag or reduce range. It tells the car it doesn't HAVE to be ready to regren or drive until I release the button.
How do you find 0% with a pedal and then maintain it? If you lift off that is going to cause regen. If you lift slightly you still may be telling the car +1% or -1%, nevermind bumps introducing inputs.
+1 to kiteboarder With a well designed one pedal drive, Acceleration, Regen and Coasting is included in the accelerator pedal travel. No need to a seperate coasting mode.
In an EV you can coast by simply adjusting the height of your right foot. In between 1% power & 1% regen there's a 0% "coast" position .
As someone who's driven manual cars and motorcycles my whole life, & done at least my full share of coasting via clutch, I don't miss the lack of transmission*.
In my EV, or with Aptera's hub motors, there is no way to disengage the motor from the wheels while driving. Any time I wanted to coast I could still shift to N though. That switches off power to the motor/generator.
However it also switches off regen power FROM the motor/generator, so it reduces efficiency, except during the relatively VERY short periods you spend between power & deceleration during normal driving, or if you're on a long downhill that's the exact right slope to maintain your desired speed. In those instances N is exactly as efficient as holding your right foot at the 0% power position.
* In fact, after getting used to EVs' INSTANT acceleration always on standby, I literally had a very realistically believable nightmare that I floored it for emergency acceleration before realizing I was in too high a gear, clutched, shifted, & floored it again but by then it was too late & fortunately right before crashing I woke up in a panic.
also a way to set speed at a certian level so that teh speed stays teh same without pedal needing to eb pushed can prevent human tendency to unconsciously go slower by teh pedal and then catch up to speed when they relaize they're slowing too much. this happens b/c of inattentiveness when teh drive becomes monotonous. the speed set can be temporarily slowed by braking pedal, and can be turned off by press of button, although i think its maybe cheaper, lighter and more intutive to use if the device was a mechanical switch which locks teh gas pedal into a certain position by pulling/pushing a knob or something. also a automatic stop and go for traffic creeping can be turned on as part of the partial self driving software.
I agree to have a coast mode. As a hypermiler, this is a major way to increase efficiency. I don't think regen is efficient enough for many long coast opportunities.
Aptera has already said in their FAQs it would have 3 or 4 regen settings. Simulating neutral might actually cost energy depending on the nature of the motors.