Two settings for Hill Mode

4745 Views 10 Replies 8 Participants Last post by Samir, Oct 21, 2011

Dutch

Discussion Starter · Oct 20, 2011

I recently had my second test drive. The Fisker-representative advised me to try Hill Mode on the highway. There are actually two Hill Modes, which I hadn't heard of before.

If you click the lever the car will break moderately (regenerative) when you get off the gas, if you click again the deceleration is stronger when you get off the gas.

It was handy when approaching slower traffic. I did not have to break, the car did that for me (and while doing that it charged the battery). I guess it should be possible to drive in Hill Mode all the time! It's basically Stealth Mode with automatic regenerative braking.

The stronger of the two Hill Modes is probably not safe to use on a flat road, as the deceleration is strong and the cars behind you do not see any brake lights! This setting looks more suitable for descending hills and mountains.

We'll have to find out in real life if Hill Mode is a usefull addition. Hopefully in November...

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kabalah70

· #2 · Oct 20, 2011

First accident that aggressive Hill Mode causes and there will be a factory recall for a software update that makes the brake lights come on when its in use. Fisker should be pre-emptive and get this done now as the car is braking...regeneratively. Save them a lawsuit and money.

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ct-fiskerbuzz

· #3 · Oct 20, 2011

kabalah70 said:
First accident that aggressive Hill Mode causes and there will be a factory recall for a software update that makes the brake lights come on when its in use. Fisker should be pre-emptive and get this done now as the car is braking...regeneratively. Save them a lawsuit and money.

Indeed. Tesla's Roaster, I mean Roadster (it was a typo but I thought it was funny so I left it in

), lights the brake lights during heavier accelerator-pedal-driven regenerative braking. It's the right way to do it.

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Fabulist

· #4 · Oct 20, 2011

Dutch said:
It was handy when approaching slower traffic. I did not have to break, the car did that for me (and while doing that it charged the battery). I guess it should be possible to drive in Hill Mode all the time! It's basically Stealth Mode with automatic regenerative braking.

I have heard Henrik Fisker talk about this and he claims that he prefers the hill mode (I assume the first setting) to be on at all times and that he has gotten used to it.

Really good point about the brake lights. I actually have to press the brake pedal in my car to engage regen braking in my current car so the brake light always comes on when I use it. It would be a good option to have with the hill mode.

-- Fab.

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Samir

· #5 · Oct 21, 2011

ct-fiskerbuzz said:
kabalah70 said:

First accident that aggressive Hill Mode causes and there will be a factory recall for a software update that makes the brake lights come on when its in use. Fisker should be pre-emptive and get this done now as the car is braking...regeneratively. Save them a lawsuit and money.

Click to expand...

Indeed. Tesla's Roaster, I mean Roadster (it was a typo but I thought it was funny so I left it in ), lights the brake lights during heavier accelerator-pedal-driven regenerative braking. It's the right way to do it.

Spot on. If Tesla's already been there, done that, why reinvent the wheel? Add the brake light programming and be done. But they probably have enough on their hands just getting the major bugs squashed.

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Mycroft

· #6 · Oct 21, 2011

I was going to put this post in the tire thread, but this one works just as well.

Using regen for braking is fantastic and I plan on using it a lot when I get my car, but keep in mind that the rear tires are going to be pulling double duty. They're going to wear down from the acceleration and because with regen, they're the only tires doing the braking. So they'll wear down twice as fast.

Either plan on replacing them earlier than you normally would expect to or rotate the fronts with the rears much more frequently so all four tires wear at approximately the same rate.

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brian

· #7 · Oct 21, 2011

That's a very good point. Really, the most economical way to drive is to simply not brake at all. I mean if you see traffic or a red light ahead just coast slowly down to it w/o re-gen or braking. I get pretty outstanding mileage whenever I try that on roadtrips. One time I decided to see what the maximum MPG was that I could get on my Aston (which normally gets around 19.5 on a roadtrip), and by driving extremely conservatively and almost never braking - just coasting - I was able to get 24.3 mpg average out and back over about 120 miles.

-Brian

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marswill

· #8 · Oct 21, 2011

Mycroft said:
I was going to put this post in the tire thread, but this one works just as well.

Using regen for braking is fantastic and I plan on using it a lot when I get my car, but keep in mind that the rear tires are going to be pulling double duty. They're going to wear down from the acceleration and because with regen, they're the only tires doing the braking. So they'll wear down twice as fast.

Either plan on replacing them earlier than you normally would expect to or rotate the fronts with the rears much more frequently so all four tires wear at approximately the same rate.

You better not try swapping the front tires with the rear as they are different in size, i.e., the front is a 255 whereas the rear is a 285.

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Mycroft

· #9 · Oct 21, 2011

Whoops, there goes that idea. Just have to plan on replacing the rears frequently I guess.

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Fabulist

· #10 · Oct 21, 2011

brian said:
One time I decided to see what the maximum MPG was that I could get on my Aston (which normally gets around 19.5 on a roadtrip), and by driving extremely conservatively and almost never braking - just coasting - I was able to get 24.3 mpg average out and back over about 120 miles.

I had the same experience in my previous car, an XK Jaguar whom I miss dearly. It had an adaptive cruise control system that used radar to adjust the speed based on traffic. Since the computer avoided braking as much as possible and was incredibly smooth compared to my leaden right foot, I would get amazing mileage whenever I used it for long drives. in a cross-country trip, we averaged 27 MPG over the trip even though we travelled at speeds well in excess of the speed limit during most of the trip.

-- Fab.

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Samir

· #11 · Oct 21, 2011

brian said:
That's a very good point. Really, the most economical way to drive is to simply not brake at all. I mean if you see traffic or a red light ahead just coast slowly down to it w/o re-gen or braking.

Saves your brakes too! I got 120k out of my 95 Altima SE doing that.

[hr]

Mycroft said:
Either plan on replacing them earlier than you normally would expect to...

A lot of rwd cars are like that anyways. I've found I always need to replace the tires on the drive side 2x vs the opposite side. Some of my cars I can rotate, others I can't. The rotation just allows me to run them down to the cords, but that's all.

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