Regenerative Braking = Motion Sickness

[bmwi3loveit]

Hi All,

I've been experiencing motion sickness/car sick when I drive my i3 in traffic. I commute an hour to work in stop & go traffic (405 Freeway) and by the time I get home I'm overwhelmed with nausea.

Does anyone know if there is the ability to turn off the regenerative braking or have the dealership do it?

Thank you!

 

[janner]

It shouldn't take long for you to adapt to the regenerative braking. Instead of taking your foot off the accelerator and covering the brake just ease off the accelerator gently. The i3 is a far smoother car to drive than an ICE car once you adapt to it.

 

[bmwi3loveit]

It shouldn't take long for you to adapt to the regenerative braking. Instead of taking your foot off the accelerator and covering the brake just ease off the accelerator gently. The i3 is a far smoother car to drive than an ICE car once you adapt to it.

Thank you for the advice, I will try this on my drive home.

I also might use an over the counter nausea reliever.

 

[gte355u124]

There is a sweet spot on the pedal (refer to manual), that allows you to coast while slightly releasing some of the pressure on the pedal. See if you can find it as this will help prevent immediate regen braking.

 

[Semmtexx]

You could also try the Ecopro modes. My partner was feeling sick also but this went away once we started driving in Ecopro. I think the briskness of the acceleration was a major contributing factor so if you're mostly highway driving it might not help so much but worth a try perhaps?

 

[bmwi3loveit]

You could also try the Ecopro modes. My partner was feeling sick also but this went away once we started driving in Ecopro. I think the briskness of the acceleration was a major contributing factor so if you're mostly highway driving it might not help so much but worth a try perhaps?

I'll have to try this, thank you

 

[Blue20]

With an hour long stop & go, try using the Active Cruise Control (ACC). It is like the tractor beam :mrgreen:

 

[jadnashuanh]

This is a common complaint for very new drivers...enough so that BMW decreased the maximum regeneration capability of the car to some's dismay! But, once you understand that the acceleration decreases to coasting then starts to increase regeneration, you should become much smoother and this will be gone. The problem is that not all dealers give the new owner a good orientation, and not all people actually read the user's manual!

So, once you get the hang of it, you can find a coast spot with the accelerator, and either slow down or speed up, and both of those actions are not on/off switches...they gradually increase/decrease as you move the pedal, giving you the ability to never having to need the brake pedal except for those times you misjudge traffic or aren't paying attention. To be most efficient, you'd never touch the brake pedal and not be lurching around at all. FWIW, the car will turn on the brake lights once regeneration reaches a certain point, so you don't have to worry about slowing rapidly without warning to those behind you...the car takes care of you in that respect.

 

[philly10]

I really don't get this thread, as above just regulate the accelerator pedal to coast. I expected the regen to much more aggressive TBH...bit of a let down really after reading all the reviews on it. I was expecting to hit a brick wall when letting off the go pedal at motorway speeds, its more like you've dropped a gear or 2 in mine.

 

[websterize]

Indeed, my initial take on BMW's implementation of regenerative braking was that lifting off the go pedal felt similar to how a manual transmission car slows after lifting off the pedal in first or second gear.

Smoothing things out in the i3 just takes practice — I'd try that before a pill.

 

[gte355u124]

Off topic, but has anyone noticed how their regen charge kw/mi goes up while not fully letting off the pedal? i.e. if I let my foot off the charge might be 3 kw/mi, whereas if I get in between a "coast" and "regen" part of the pedal, it will throw out high numbers: 20, 40, I've even seen 99 kw/mi show up! strange, given I thought letting the max regen (i.e. taking foot completely off pedal) take place would allow this.

 

[websterize]

Fairly sure 19.9 mi/kWh in the instantaneous consumption mode of the onboard computer is true coast. 99.9 kWh/mi is regen. The difference in pedal action between the two is subtle, and strangely game-like — fun practice on the commute.

 

[justanotherdrunk]

Indeed, my initial take on BMW's implementation of regenerative braking was that lifting off the go pedal felt similar to how a manual transmission car slows after lifting off the pedal in first or second gear.

Smoothing things out in the i3 just takes practice — I'd try that before a pill.

even as a knucklehead ...

it took about 2 hours for me to develop a symbiosis with the cars superior one pedal city driving dynamics

 

[RExingIT]

Fairly sure 19.9 mi/kWh in the instantaneous consumption mode of the onboard computer is true coast. 99.9 kWh/mi is regen. The difference in pedal action between the two is subtle, and strangely game-like — fun practice on the commute.

you are correct. You can also see this on the energy flow screen in idrive.

Once one learns to gently feather the throttle, the motion sickness should go away. My wife has, shall we call it, a sensitive stomach when riding in cars. The first week I owned the car, it sure wans't her favorite. Now she doesn't have any problems.

 

[psquare]

I really don't get this thread, as above just regulate the accelerator pedal to coast. I expected the regen to much more aggressive TBH...bit of a let down really after reading all the reviews on it. I was expecting to hit a brick wall when letting off the go pedal at motorway speeds, its more like you've dropped a gear or 2 in mine.

It used to be like that in the test i3s I drove about a year ago. When mine was actually delivered early March this year, it had already the softer regen settings, which I found particularly noticeable in Comfort mode, which I think is a shame, as I do find myself using the brakes more often when in Comfort. I've adjusted AC settings and drive mostly in EcoPro these days, because I like the regen effect and want to gain additional mileage from it.

 

[S3RDP]

It used to be like that in the test i3s I drove about a year ago. When mine was actually delivered early March this year, it had already the softer regen settings, which I found particularly noticeable in Comfort mode, which I think is a shame, as I do find myself using the brakes more often when in Comfort. I've adjusted AC settings and drive mostly in EcoPro these days, because I like the regen effect and want to gain additional mileage from it.

Totally agree psquare. My car also delivered in March and I immediately noticed the softer regen compared with test i3s. Whilst I was a little disappointed I now wonder whether the soften regen is not easier to live with and makes for more relaxed driving.

 

[jadnashuanh]

It used to be like that in the test i3s I drove about a year ago. When mine was actually delivered early March this year, it had already the softer regen settings, which I found particularly noticeable in Comfort mode, which I think is a shame, as I do find myself using the brakes more often when in Comfort. I've adjusted AC settings and drive mostly in EcoPro these days, because I like the regen effect and want to gain additional mileage from it.

Totally agree psquare. My car also delivered in March and I immediately noticed the softer regen compared with test i3s. Whilst I was a little disappointed I now wonder whether the soften regen is not easier to live with and makes for more relaxed driving.

It took more skill to drive the i3 with the higher level regen, people complained about it like in this thread about the response (primarily, I think, because they didn't know or hadn't learned about how to feather the pedal to use it adequately), and BMWUSA decided to lower the value internally from I think it was 27 to 24 of their programmable variable. It is what it is...it might be something that you could change if you searched with the programming app, but I've not checked. Some of the bits can be accessed, some can't.

 

[barrychan]

Its like driving a car with clutch......takes time and pratice to be good at.
Its like braking.....you need to release the padal a little just before it comes to a complete stop .....if not both will give you headache/motion sickness/nausea.
Our i3 has great power right from the beginning and you need to learn how to accelerate or just like any powerful/high horse power car.
As to coast on our car is the same as high performance vehicle if you gear down with no rev. match.....it will buck.
Our i3 is NO different .....instead of using both feet to drive ( clutch) ...now one foot....its a smart car....just need to know how