How many driving modes are there really?

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BAsrican

Active member
Joined
Nov 4, 2021
Messages
29
Location
Triangle, North Carolina
I'm still waiting for my dealership to call and say they finally have the Leaf I want. In the meantime, I'm wondering something about driving modes

From what I read, you can have (1) Eco mode on or off, (2) D or B selected from the shifter, and (3) e-pedal engaged or not. My question is: With all these options, does this mean there are really 8 (2*2*2) unique driving modes? Or do certain modes take over if selected; like is e-pedal the same no matter what position the shifter or eco is set to?

Thanks,
Brent
 
Hey Brent good choice of car! e-pedal does take over when engaged, it overrides the D and B settings by maximizing regenerative braking. I use it in traffic but not on the highway. At least in the 2 Leafs I have owned it does NOT stay on when the car is turned off, you need to engage it each time. ECO, OTOH, stays on unless you turn it off (it is always ON in our Leaf). ECO allows you to toggle between D and B and neutral (to shift into neutral, hold the shift knob toward you for a second or 2, the car will shift into N, this is handy when going thru car washes or when you want to coast down a long hill to save energy and gain momentum). You will very quickly get the hang of all of this- some drivers just get in and drive and others love to be always fiddling with the regen and momentum, it probably does not make a huge amount of difference to the over all efficiency but it gives me something to do!
 
Hey Brent good choice of car! e-pedal does take over when engaged, it overrides the D and B settings by maximizing regenerative braking. I use it in traffic but not on the highway. At least in the 2 Leafs I have owned it does NOT stay on when the car is turned off, you need to engage it each time.
Click to expand...

You can, through a Settings menu choice, have the car "remember" e-Pedal like it does Eco or D. It comes with this option off.
 
You can, through a Settings menu choice, have the car "remember" e-Pedal like it does Eco or D. It comes with this option off.
Click to expand...


Ach the dreaded settings! The S Plus may not have this setting, and if it does I will probably never find it!
 
Hmm, ok, so if e-pedal overrides everything else, that means there are really 5 driving modes?

D
B
D eco
B eco
e-pedal

Is this correct? Oh, and also neutral for coasting downhill, I guess?
 
BAsrican said:
Hmm, ok, so if e-pedal overrides everything else, that means there are really 5 driving modes?

D
B
D eco
B eco
e-pedal

Is this correct? Oh, and also neutral for coasting downhill, I guess?
Click to expand...

Actually, you can control E-pedal acceleration with Eco turned on or off. E-pedal seems to override regen to use maximum at all times as soon as you let off of the accelerator, all the way to a stop. When at a stop, you can notice a difference in acceleration response when you turn Eco mode on or off. So in a way, you can tweak E-pedal a little as well.
 
Oh, well that's cool.

So to me it seems this:
1) There are 3 modes of slowing down, D B, e-pedal, each with increasing amounts of regeneration.

And 2) there are 2 modes of acceleration. Normal, and eco (eco, so that we are a bit more gentle and more efficient off the line.


Is that the gist of it? Does eco do anything else?
 
Eco also reduces the amount of current the heater can draw, and I believe it also reduces the maximum current for the A/C as well. The difference isn't noticeable unless it's really cold or really hot outside.
 
BAsrican said:
Oh, and also neutral for coasting downhill, I guess?
Click to expand...

Actually, the manual indicates not to shift to neutral while driving.

Neutral is helpful when going through an automatic car wash (where the wash station pulls your car through) or when being towed.
 
LeftieBiker said:
Eco also reduces the amount of current the heater can draw, and I believe it also reduces the maximum current for the A/C as well. The difference isn't noticeable unless it's really cold or really hot outside.
Click to expand...

Eco also re-maps the throttle response, making it fairly linear. In normal mode, you get more power with the first bit of pedal movement, which some people interpret as "more peppy". The intent seems to be for eco to encourage more gentle acceleration. I simply find it easier and more pleasant to drive. If I want more power I'm perfectly able to send my foot forward to find it. :)
 
We did cover that. The question was about what else Eco does.

EDIT: No, I guess we didn't. I assumed from the first post that the OP knew what Eco primarily does. Oops...
 
BAsrican said:
I'm still waiting for my dealership to call and say they finally have the Leaf I want. In the meantime, I'm wondering something about driving modes

From what I read, you can have (1) Eco mode on or off, (2) D or B selected from the shifter, and (3) e-pedal engaged or not. My question is: With all these options, does this mean there are really 8 (2*2*2) unique driving modes? Or do certain modes take over if selected; like is e-pedal the same no matter what position the shifter or eco is set to?

Thanks,
Brent
Click to expand...

No. E Pedal stands alone. I have seen many claim that Eco changes E Pedal but I found that to be unobservable in my case so...YMMV

What "I" have;

D
B
E Pedal
D Eco
B Eco
 
dmacarthur said:
Hey Brent good choice of car! e-pedal does take over when engaged, it overrides the D and B settings by maximizing regenerative braking. I use it in traffic but not on the highway. At least in the 2 Leafs I have owned it does NOT stay on when the car is turned off, you need to engage it each time. ECO, OTOH, stays on unless you turn it off (it is always ON in our Leaf). ECO allows you to toggle between D and B and neutral (to shift into neutral, hold the shift knob toward you for a second or 2, the car will shift into N, this is handy when going thru car washes or when you want to coast down a long hill to save energy and gain momentum). You will very quickly get the hang of all of this- some drivers just get in and drive and others love to be always fiddling with the regen and momentum, it probably does not make a huge amount of difference to the over all efficiency but it gives me something to do!
Click to expand...

For a persistent E Pedal experience, adjust in settings.

I assume the verbose edition or navigation instructions not needed.

Settings
Driver's Assistance
E Pedal
 
henrydehoja said:
BAsrican said:
Oh, and also neutral for coasting downhill, I guess?
Click to expand...

Actually, the manual indicates not to shift to neutral while driving.

Neutral is helpful when going through an automatic car wash (where the wash station pulls your car through) or when being towed.
Click to expand...

gasser recommendation not omitted. Ignore
 
DaveinOlyWA said:
No. E Pedal stands alone. I have seen many claim that Eco changes E Pedal but I found that to be unobservable in my case so...YMMV
Click to expand...
It might be model year dependent. I do have a 2018 and a 2020 to experiment with. It's makes a difference in my 2020, but I don't drive my wife's 2018, so it's possible it behaves differently. Normally I would make a video about it, but given today is a holiday and the weather is bad, maybe later this week. ;)
 
knightmb said:
DaveinOlyWA said:
No. E Pedal stands alone. I have seen many claim that Eco changes E Pedal but I found that to be unobservable in my case so...YMMV
Click to expand...
It might be model year dependent. I do have a 2018 and a 2020 to experiment with. It's makes a difference in my 2020, but I don't drive my wife's 2018, so it's possible it behaves differently. Normally I would make a video about it, but given today is a holiday and the weather is bad, maybe later this week. ;)
Click to expand...

Had 2018 and 2019 Plus. I was looking for quantifiable differences with LS and found none. I did anywhere from a half dozen to several dozen observations and didn't see anything? Now there is well publicized changes to the drive response that started in 2022 (along with removing the climate package as an option) sooooo

But remember; YMMV
 
DaveinOlyWA said:
No. E Pedal stands alone. I have seen many claim that Eco changes E Pedal but I found that to be unobservable in my case so...YMMV
Click to expand...
I was finally able to put this to the test with the two Leaf I have access to. My wife's 2018, Eco mode makes a very small difference in the acceleration power, just enough you can see it on the power graph when you toggle Eco mode on and off while in E-pedal. While you can see the difference on the screen, you don't feel it much playing with the Eco button.

The 2020 on the other hand, it makes such a difference I can buck the Leaf up and down playing with the Eco button with E-pedal on. :lol:
I don't know how the other model years (2019, 2021, 2022) handle it now, but it's another level of E-pedal tweaking on the 2020 models.
 

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