Tesla has eliminated two of the stopping modes from the Model 3 and Model Y. The changes are being made in conjunction with the revised range estimates Tesla provided on Thursday night, and will only impact US customers.
One of the big benefits of driving an electric vehicle (EV) is one-pedal driving. As the name implies, you almost never have to use the brake pedal, as easing your foot off the accelerator slows the car down through regenerative braking. Tesla provides additional settings to adjust how your car behaves as it slows down with three different “Stopping Modes.”
Currently those three settings are Creep, Roll, and Hold. According to Tesla, in Creep Mode “the motor continues to apply torque, moving [the car] slowly forward (in Drive) or backwards (in Reverse), similar to a conventional vehicle with an automatic transmission.” Roll Mode is self explanatory – “When close to, or at, a complete stop, [the car] becomes free rolling like a vehicle in Neutral.” Hold, on the other hand continues to provide regenerative braking at speeds lower than with the Creep and Roll settings, allowing the car to come to a complete stop without pressing the brake pedal.
For owners of newer Model 3 or Model Y, the only available setting will be Hold.
According to internal communication to employees obtained by Drive Tesla, Creep and Roll are being removed “to help display a more accurate, efficient range estimate” and will apply to all Model 3 and Model Y vehicles built after January 1, 2024. Interestingly the note says it will only apply for cars destined for US customers, although with how closely Canada follows changes in the US, it would not be surprising to see this make its way north of the border in the future.
As for existing Model 3 and Model Y owners, Tesla says the two stopping modes will not be removed by an over-the-air (OTA) software update. Model S and Model X owners do not have the option to select different stopping modes.
Fortunately Hold mode is the best and most popular of the three stopping modes, so the elimination of Roll and Creep will not have a big impact on the vast majority of owners. This is especially the case for owners new to Tesla’s one-pedal driving, as Hold provides a far better driving experience that internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, which Creep and Roll attempted to emulate.
As we noted at the beginning of this article, Tesla updated the ranges for the Model S, Model X, and Model Y on Thursday night. Those changes were also made because of unspecified improvements that draw more energy from the battery pack, and changes to EPA testing that result in higher consumption.
