[Antonin]

Does anybody else have problem with clicking the paddle for hill mode and "missing" the shift? This happens to me quite regularly and I am not able to find out why. Simply by pulling quickly on the paddle sometimes switches to hill mode, but sometimes does not. Also, sometimes the bell sounds, but when switching quickly from Hill 1 to Hill 2, even the second switch is not accompanied by bell sound. Very unpredictable behavior.

I am running 6.28 version. This downshift issue creates problems when I want the electric motors to brake quickly since I never know in which mode I am, because the paddle shift does not work with 100 percent reliability. More like 70 percent...

 

[ct-fiskerbuzz]

A "double click" to go straight to Hill 2 never seems to work for me, I have to do one, wait a second or so, and then do the 2nd. If I do that it works fine, as long as I don't pull-and-hold (that means "cancel hill mode"!).

Technically this doesn't down shift (there is only the one direct-drive gear) so if you need to slow down now, you might as well just use the brake pedal. Hill mode is purely so that you don't have to keep your foot on the pedal, when going down for a long period (e.g., down a mountain).

 

[Antonin]

I think that the idea of regenerative braking is that you use your electric motor to do braking for you and charge battery at the same time. Kind of KERS system. So if it is there, let's use it...

What is mind-boggling is that Hill mode 1 sometimes does not engage even when I pull the paddle and I have to go one more time... and I agree with you that one has to wait between "downshifts" a bit to get to Hill Mode 2. I just hate to use brakes - wasted thermal energy if you ask me

 

[Weird Fishes]

Antonin, I just got my Karma 2 weeks ago. I'm running the newest software--510. And I'm having the same experience you are having. I attributed it to my own inexperience using the paddles and assumed it would get better as I became more familiar with the car, but so far, it is still happening.

 

[LonePalmBJ]

I just hate to use brakes - wasted thermal energy if you ask me

Regardless of Hill mode, the first .25G of deceleration is accomplished by brake regen; if you start "braking" sufficiently early and with the appropriate brake pedal force you will slow down the vehicle using only regen and not friction brakes. Beyond .25G the friction brakes kick in. In other words, you can use or not use Hill mode and still get the exact same about of regen, and avoid friction braking. The trick is to start braking sooner and keep the deceleration to .25G or less.

 

[ct-fiskerbuzz]

The thing is, when you push the brake pedal "not too hard", if you're going fast enough (not sure what that point is, seems to be somewhere between 10 and 20 mph, or for km/h maybe above 15 or so) you get nothing but regenerative braking anyway. The friction brakes engage only if you push harder or are going slow.

The brake blending is so smooth that it's almost impossible to tell when the friction brakes have kicked in, except by noticing that the "generate/accelerate" dial has stopped moving towards "generate" even though you're stopping more quickly than you were when you were pushing less-hard on the pedal. However, because the car is very heavy, if you're going down a steep hill, you can feel the transition sometimes.

 

[SoCalGuy]

I've noticed this as well, but I think it has more to do with the the actual paddle shifter buttons - I think they don't register the clicks all the time - doubt its the software.

 

[bigdaddyo811]

I have the same issue as well

 

[Fabulist]

I have almost 10K Miles on my car at this point and have experimented with hill mode under a variety of conditions. I have found that Hill mode is most effective in two circumstances: (i) going down a long and steep hill, and (ii) in heavy traffic for single pedal driving. Outside those two circumstances, the car tends to be handle better, IMHO, in basic "Stealth" mode and I almost never use Hill mode for open highway driving.

Regarding the paddle itself, since it is not connected to a real transmission and is a mode change switch only, I don't think it have very high priority in the network and it usually takes a fraction of a second to respond and double-clicking it may or may not work depending on the timing, so it is best to give it a nice solid pull and release, and then wait for a beat to allow it to respond.

To switch out of Hill 1 or 2 modes, you can pull and hold the paddle until the mode changes back to Stealth. You don't need to step through Hill 1 and 2 to get back to Stealth.

 

[Karma 2012]

I have the same issue. The paddle clicker has 70% click through rate at best. I have to hold it longer at times, however, sometimes it jumps act like a double click. I think I am spoiled by my xbox and ps3 controllers. I imaging this is due to the underpowered hardware that we are all experiencing in our center console.

 

[Richard Carnes]

Interesting. After turning 5000 miles today, it happened to me for the first time this afternoon. I live in a very mountainous area and use hill mode often, but it's never 'not' worked until today. On three seperate occasions it just refused to go into hill mode, and then the next time it would suddenly work. Strange.

 

[Antonin]

Thanks for sharing that pressing the brake pedal actually first tries to brake with electric motor and then switches to old fashioned pads. Was not aware of this and will give it more attention on the Energy Screen. As for missed paddle shifts I counted it today and have about 65 percent success rate. As noted, that Hill paddle probably does not have high priority in car's CAN bus so that would explain missed shifts. Another source of my huge frustration is car's inability to remember all the exterior settings - door locking without horn, unlocking all 4 doors and mirror fold. I cannot figure out what is causing this memory loss and how to keep stuff stored without changing. I think I saw this in another thread, so I will read up on it. Maybe new software update solves this problem as well?

My German dealer told me that installing new software (510) on my car must wait because he is busy arranging winter tires on other cars. But he mentioned that "he has heard about new software". WTF?

 

[Michael]

antoin can you car store radiochannels?

 

[Fabulist]

My German dealer told me that installing new software (510) on my car must wait because he is busy arranging winter tires on other cars. But he mentioned that "he has heard about new software". WTF?

That's not all that unusual. The folks on this forum are almost always way ahead of the dealers with new information. This is not always the dealers' fault. We tend to get the word out before it been blessed by official corporate channels because we are enthusiasts.

 

[Antonin]

antoin can you car store radiochannels?

I am not a big radio fan, but I have two channels stored and they are holding up. However my exterior preferences do not :huh:

They last about two days at most...

 

[rex]

Interesting. After turning 5000 miles today, it happened to me for the first time this afternoon. I live in a very mountainous area and use hill mode often, but it's never 'not' worked until today. On three seperate occasions it just refused to go into hill mode, and then the next time it would suddenly work. Strange.

Were you by chance just leaving with a full charge? I live on a hill, and when I leave in the morning an try to use hill mode, I've noticed that Hill Mode does not kick in with a full charge... maybe avoiding overcharging the battery? Not a big deal to me, just part of adapting to new technology.

 

[ct-fiskerbuzz]

I am not a big radio fan, but I have two channels stored and they are holding up. However my exterior preferences do not :huh:

They last about two days at most...

My exterior settings (mostly "RKE" set to "global", but also "Acc Delay" to 1 minute) last more than two days. I've had them reset twice and I have had the car for about two months.

So, it may take up to a few months after Friday's software upgrade to tell if it's been fixed.

 

[dennis]

Were you by chance just leaving with a full charge? I live on a hill, and when I leave in the morning an try to use hill mode, I've noticed that Hill Mode does not kick in with a full charge... maybe avoiding overcharging the battery? Not a big deal to me, just part of adapting to new technology.

My garage is also at the top of a steep hill and indeed the regenerative braking function (through hill mode or using the brakes) does not operate when the battery is fully charged.