[John in NJ]

From what I can gather, the only time your brake lights illuminate while using iPedal is when you completely remove your foot off the pedal. Is this correct? For the other "Levels" of regenerative braking, brake lights do not come on at all without pressing the brake pedal itself. Is this true?

If true, this seems incredibly dangerous. When you slow down in iPedal mode without fully removing your foot from the pedal, deacceleration can be significant and with no brake lights illuminated, a rearend collision seems a "when", not "if" proposition.

Do I have my facts right?

 

[dscoti]

I believe you will have competing systems if you leave your foot on the accelerator while trying to brake with regen. I think I saw that in the owners manual as well. However, this thread might help clear it up for us both.

 

[John in NJ]

I fear my belief is correct as stated above. In the thread you reference, the video there seems to agree with my supposition that brake lights only come on in iPedal when the pedal is RELEASED. And, the brake lights will not come on at all in regenerative levels 1 through 3 whether you are depressing the pedal or not. Some of the others that made comments that indicate that the software will cause brake lights to illuminate upon certain deacceleration thresholds don't appear to be EV6 owners, but owner of other EVs. I'm going to try to do some more testing at higher speeds with someone following me to confirm my hypotheses. Bottom line, if what I fear to be true actually is, I think it is a major safety issue that needs to be addressed.

 

[JK-KIAEV6]

It is no different to an ICE car, you take your foot off the accelerator and the engine braking etc comes in and slows the car down, yes maybe not to a complete stop but it slows the car down and there is no brake light.

 

[WBF25]

I fear my belief is correct as stated above. In the thread you reference, the video there seems to agree with my supposition that brake lights only come on in iPedal when the pedal is RELEASED. And, the brake lights will not come on at all in regenerative levels 1 through 3 whether you are depressing the pedal or not. Some of the others that made comments that indicate that the software will cause brake lights to illuminate upon certain deacceleration thresholds don't appear to be EV6 owners, but owner of other EVs. I'm going to try to do some more testing at higher speeds with someone following me to confirm my hypotheses. Bottom line, if what I fear to be true actually is, I think it is a major safety issue that needs to be addressed.

What I’ve read is while there is no US standard yet, there is a UN standard for internationally sold cars indicating specific decelerations rates that the lights have to illuminate at, so some manufacturers simply apply that programming logic to all their cars regardless of country. So theoretically since the EV6 is sold around the world, unless Kia chose not to do it in the US, if the car was decelerating fast enough the light should turn on, regardless of how it’s slowing (regen or brake pads).

 

[blit]

It is no different to an ICE car, you take your foot off the accelerator and the engine braking etc comes in and slows the car down, yes maybe not to a complete stop but it slows the car down and there is no brake light.

Yes....and over the years, many of us I'm sure have used "downshifting" to slow down our ICE vehicles and in doing so there are no brake lights activated until you hit the brake pedal. If in i pedal mode the brake lights DO come on after removing your foot, that sounds logical to me.

 

[hornfreak]

I fear my belief is correct as stated above. In the thread you reference, the video there seems to agree with my supposition that brake lights only come on in iPedal when the pedal is RELEASED. And, the brake lights will not come on at all in regenerative levels 1 through 3 whether you are depressing the pedal or not. Some of the others that made comments that indicate that the software will cause brake lights to illuminate upon certain deacceleration thresholds don't appear to be EV6 owners, but owner of other EVs. I'm going to try to do some more testing at higher speeds with someone following me to confirm my hypotheses. Bottom line, if what I fear to be true actually is, I think it is a major safety issue that needs to be addressed.

Per the car's manual (granted I have a Wind RWD but wouldn't make a difference for this) letting off of the accelerator in level 0-1 will not activate the brake light, however, in level 2-3 + iPedal the brake light will illuminate from removing your foot off of the accelerator. The illumination from brake lights applies in level 2-3 + iPedal from any deceleration from the car (ie regen braking). IIRC the manual even mentions that it does this for safety reasons.

 

[talldad86]

It's not much different from downshifting in a car with a manual transmission and using compression braking to slow down.

 

[shoob]

It's not much different from downshifting in a car with a manual transmission and using compression braking to slow down.

Exactly. I've driven many manual transmissions over the years, have used this technique to slow down all the time and have never been rear-ended.

 

[jrsva]

@ John in NJ
I hope you will post the results of your experiment. I'm also curious what happens in i-Pedal mode if one lightens one's foot on the accelerator without lifting it fully, as one would usually do approaching a red light in order to slow gradually. I'm pretty sure my Tesla shows brake lights on any significant deceleration but I don't know about the Kia.

 

[John in NJ]

Letting go of the gas in an ICE car is nothing like the deceleration created when lessening the pressure on the pedal while in iPedal mode. Deceleration, even when just letting up on the pedal (not fully releasing it), is quite significant where every other automatic ICE vehicle would have their brake lights illuminated. Using the iPedal can almost eliminate the need for using your normal brake pedal at all. And if you drive in a manner where you decelerate gradually (as you should), your brake light will never come on until you are essentially at a stop and finally release the pedal. Fact is, not having your brake light come on when decelerating is a safety issue that needs to be addressed.

I get the manual transmission downshifting thought, but it seems pretty intuitive that doing so would generate more rear end collisions than today normal automatic transmission ICE vehicles where people need to brake and thus have their brake lights come on. I would have thought that a deceleration threshold would initiate then brake lights, not releasing the pedal fully.

 

[John in NJ]

@ John in NJ
I hope you will post the results of your experiment. I'm also curious what happens in i-Pedal mode if one lightens one's foot on the accelerator without lifting it fully, as one would usually do approaching a red light in order to slow gradually. I'm pretty sure my Tesla shows brake lights on any significant deceleration but I don't know about the Kia.

Will do

 

[S2the_A_M]

Letting go of the gas in an ICE car is nothing like the deceleration created when lessening the pressure on the pedal while in iPedal mode. Deceleration, even when just letting up on the pedal (not fully releasing it), is quite significant where every other automatic ICE vehicle would have their brake lights illuminated. Using the iPedal can almost eliminate the need for using your normal brake pedal at all. And if you drive in a manner where you decelerate gradually (as you should), your brake light will never come on until you are essentially at a stop and finally release the pedal. Fact is, not having your brake light come on when decelerating is a safety issue that needs to be addressed.

I get the manual transmission downshifting thought, but it seems pretty intuitive that doing so would generate more rear end collisions than today normal automatic transmission ICE vehicles where people need to brake and thus have their brake lights come on. I would have thought that a deceleration threshold would initiate then brake lights, not releasing the pedal fully.

Agreed. Having said that, people may well be coming at this comparison from different perspectives: regen differs for the RWD and AWD versions of the EV6. Having two motors allows for stronger regen.

 

[John in NJ]

Agreed. Having said that, people may well be coming at this comparison from different perspectives: regen differs for the RWD and AWD versions of the EV6. Having two motors allows for stronger regen.

Ahhh, very good point. Didn’t know that. And yes, I have an AWD Wind.

 

[robby-d]

I tested this last night. In the Canadian AWD model, the brake lights only come on in iPedal and level 3 regen when the car is significantly decelerating. In L3 it seemed this only happened when I completely removed my foot from the accelerator, while in iPedal I could still have it very lightly on. In Level 2 regen or if deceleration was more slight (similar to a downshift in a manual transmission) the brake lights did not come on. Regardless of regen level they seemed to come on when held at a full stop. I did not think to test using the left paddle to stop, but I'd guess it's the same.

To me this is perfectly fine - brake lights are supposed to alert those behind you of a sudden change in speed or (sometimes) serve as a warning that a car is stopped. As drivers we are supposed to be alert to less-significant changes in speed in cars ahead of us; brake lights don't universally light for any decel no matter how slight, why would we want that in our EV6? In fact, when the car in front of me has its brake lights going on and off lots, I usually try to avoid them, assuming it's a new or bad driver. I don't want someone behind me thinking I'm "one of those."

 

[John in NJ]

I’m not sure what I’m missing with the few of you saying that having to completely release the pedal before the brake lights come on is okay with iPedal. My goodness. I can decelerate from 45mph to a near complete stop in less than 50 yards by slowly releasing the pedal without the brake lights going on. I can also drive the entire day without my brake lights coming on at all until I’m at a dead stop in this mode.

Do you really think it is safe following me where my mph is changing drastically without any indication? Especially when you think of all the knuckleheads texting these days. Given your argument, it seems you are questioning why we’ve ever needed brake lights.

I think the delta in our disagreement is the rate of which deceleration should initiate the brake lights. Yes? I simply feel that the deceleration experienced with iPedal pressure being reduced without being removed is very high and should provide some warning to the driver behind. I can tell you that as I approach a red light on a highway, ALL cars have there brake light on as they slow down, except for me and my EV6 using iPedal.

 

[WBF25]

ALL cars have there brake light on as they slow down, except for me and my EV6 using iPedal.

It sounds like that’s not the case, based on what’s been posted from the manual and from Robby-d’s post above yours. I agree, that would be a dangerous scenario though.

 

[shoob]

Especially when you think of all the knuckleheads texting these days.

Unfortunately, brake lights aren't going to help you either. If someone is distracted and not paying attention to the road and the cars in front of them, no amount of brake lights are going to prevent them from hitting you. This happens all the time no matter the kind of vehicle.

Another point to consider: The EV6 has been out on the road since August 2021. To my knowledge there hasn't been a safety recall notice concerning this (I'm sure we all would've heard about it from the plethora of media & reviews surrounding this car). The decel, regen & braking system obviously passed all regulations in Asia, Europe and North America. If there is a higher rate of rear-enders of EV6s than considered "normal" (and I believe we would've already be seeing reports of it), then I know that the US will demand a recall/fix; I'm sure Europe and Asia have similar standards and practices. I'm not concerned about it but if there happens to be a lot of wrecks reported then I'll start to pay attention; so far, it's just a bunch of "what ifs". If using i-Pedal doesn't feel safe to you, then don't use it; it's not a requirement for enjoying this wonderful car.

 

[tonester]

I’m not sure what I’m missing with the few of you saying that having to completely release the pedal before the brake lights come on is okay with iPedal. My goodness. I can decelerate from 45mph to a near complete stop in less than 50 yards by slowly releasing the pedal without the brake lights going on. I can also drive the entire day without my brake lights coming on at all until I’m at a dead stop in this mode.

Do you really think it is safe following me where my mph is changing drastically without any indication? Especially when you think of all the knuckleheads texting these days. Given your argument, it seems you are questioning why we’ve ever needed brake lights.

I think the delta in our disagreement is the rate of which deceleration should initiate the brake lights. Yes? I simply feel that the deceleration experienced with iPedal pressure being reduced without being removed is very high and should provide some warning to the driver behind. I can tell you that as I approach a red light on a highway, ALL cars have there brake light on as they slow down, except for me and my EV6 using iPedal.

Not saying your concern isn't valid, but lemme ask you this--have you been rear-ended yet in your EV6? If not, then why do you think that is, given your commenting about the brake lights not turning on when slowing down in i-Pedal mode? Is it just luck, or is it perhaps maybe you're not giving drivers who happen to be directly behind you enough credit for their ability to avoid hitting you as you slow down brake light-less? If someone somehow manages to rear-end your EV6, I'm fairly certain it won't be as a result of the other driver somehow being caught off-guard that you were slowing down to a stop in i-Pedal mode.

 

[robby-d]

I’m not sure what I’m missing with the few of you saying that having to completely release the pedal before the brake lights come on is okay with iPedal. My goodness. I can decelerate from 45mph to a near complete stop in less than 50 yards by slowly releasing the pedal without the brake lights going on. I can also drive the entire day without my brake lights coming on at all until I’m at a dead stop in this mode.

Do you really think it is safe following me where my mph is changing drastically without any indication? Especially when you think of all the knuckleheads texting these days. Given your argument, it seems you are questioning why we’ve ever needed brake lights.

I think the delta in our disagreement is the rate of which deceleration should initiate the brake lights. Yes? I simply feel that the deceleration experienced with iPedal pressure being reduced without being removed is very high and should provide some warning to the driver behind. I can tell you that as I approach a red light on a highway, ALL cars have there brake light on as they slow down, except for me and my EV6 using iPedal.

This doesn't really align with my testing. In my car, the brake lights came on once a threshold was reached, not once my foot was removed. I would encourage you to go out at night and test with your car and get a feel for what decel is necessary for the brake lights to illuminate. It may put your mind at ease, but if it doesn't, that seems like it's worth taking to your dealer.

Perhaps your specific vehicle needs correction or maybe it's configurable and they can turn up sensitivity for you. Or perhaps your needs are better met by the brake pedal. The braking on this car blends in regen, so you'd still get the benefits of regen AND control when your brake lights illuminate.

FYI, all I did was drive on a darker, quiet residential street. Any cars parked on the street showed me if my brake lights came on through reflections off their license plates, body work, signage, etc. I did my testing in Normal but it might be different in Sport.