Tesla Quietly Removes Option To Adjust Regenerative Braking Strength

Seems like a step in the wrong direction to us.

According to the website Electrek, Tesla has recently removed the option that allows drivers to choose between strong lift-off brake regeneration and a weaker setting. In Standard mode, the regenerative braking is quite strong and allows a careful driver to operate the vehicle without using the friction brakes very often. 

However, not everyone likes strong lift-off regenerative braking, and that's especially true for many people new to electric vehicles. Quite often, people find strong lift-off regeneration unsettling at first because it's so different from the cars they have driven all their lives. 

Therefore, some automakers allow the user to select between different levels of lift-off brake regeneration, and Tesla was one of them - until now, apparently. Up until recently, there was a tab in the driving controls that allowed the driver to toggle between the Standard mode and Low mode. In Low mode, the amount of regenerative braking force applied when the operator lifts off of the accelerator pedal was reduced, and the vehicle would coast more than it does in Standard mode. 

Tesla used to allow the user to adjust the regenerative braking from Standard (strong regen) to Low (weaker). Apparently, this option has been removed from new Tesla vehicles.

Personally, I much prefer the stronger lift-off brake regeneration of Standard mode, as do the majority of the EV owners that I've discussed this topic with. However, not everyone agrees. There are people that prefer the lower setting and for a variety of reasons. 

I know a few people that prefer to drive in Standard mode for the majority of their driving, but select Low mode for long highway drives when they would rather coast more at higher speeds. I also have a close friend that gets motion sickness in cars, and the heavy lift-off regeneration setting causes him to feel sick. Therefore, whenever he's in my car, I will reduce the setting to Low, and he's fine.  

There are also people that prefer to use the Low setting when they are driving on ice or snow-covered roads. The weaker lift-off regeneration reduces the possibility of slippage and loss of traction. So there are reasons why having the option to adjust the setting is a good thing.

In fact, I recently cited the ability to adjust the regen strength as one of the things I love about my car in my Tesla Model 3 20,000 mile Owners Review post. So I find this news both puzzling and upsetting. I recently sold my 2019 Model 3 and have ordered another one with the refreshed new features. I certainly didn't expect Tesla to remove this feature, it really seems like a step backwards for the automaker. Less choice is never good. 

We'd love to speak to Tesla about this, but unfortunately, that's not happening because Tesla rarely ever responds to media inquiries. Now that they have eliminated their press communications entirely, we wouldn't even know who to reach out to. If this were any other OEM, we would have an answer within 24 hours, but that's just how Tesla rolls. You take the bad with the good, I guess. 

I don't understand this move and I find it disappointing. Tesla already had the software written, and it worked very well in my opinion. As always, let us know your thoughts in the comment section below. 

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