Not Touching Brake Means Not Signaling To Other Drivers?!

[user 1621]

First-day new Bolt lessee here. Woohoo! Awesome vehicle!

While driving back from the dealership, I noticed something in traffic behind me (other drivers' reactions) that point to an oddity that I had suspected for a long time from my pre-purchase research — that with the Bolt’s strong “Regen On-Demand and One Pedal Driving” feature in whatever combination of pedal or paddle, if you don’t touch your brake pedal, then your rear brake lights don’t come on, and therefore you’re NOT signaling to traffic behind you that you’re slowing down, as you legally should!

Drivers behind you have to furiously slam on their brakes in maddening surprise while you gleefully press that little paddle with your little left finger, yes?

Has anybody confirmed this? Or noticed this?

I plan to test it eventually for sure by strapping a couple of time-synced GoPro cams — one to show my right foot, the other to show the rear brake lights with the cam somehow extended from maybe the rear window. I dunno. Then go driving hard in heavy traffic with one pedal.

How else to test it?

 

[SparkE]

This has come up many times on this forum. search "brake lights".

 

[globecanvas]

with the Bolt’s strong “Regen On-Demand and One Pedal Driving” feature in whatever combination of pedal or paddle, if you don’t touch your brake pedal, then your rear brake lights don’t come on, and therefore you’re NOT signaling to traffic behind you that you’re slowing down, as you legally should!

That's not correct. The brake lights come on when you use the regen-brake paddle, or lift your foot off the pedal in one-pedal driving mode, if the car is decelerating more than 0.1g. In other words, if the car feels like it's braking, the brake lights are on. But after you come to a stop, the brake lights will turn off unless you put your foot on the brake pedal.

 

[Anonymous]

This has come up many times on this forum. search "brake lights".

SparkE: I know as a seasoned member, you are tired of reading the same questions over and over again.

I know as a moderator, you are fond of telling new members to use the search function!

I personally believe, it is a good thing for new members to bring up old issues, because they are new issues for them and new members are the life blood of any forum!

But have you ever done it? A search, that is?

They are worthless (and you have been told this before - search for it! hahahahaha :lol: ):

 

[user 1621]

I know as a moderator...

I personally believe, it is a good thing for new members to bring up old issues, because they are new issues for them and new members are the life blood of any forum!

Thank you!

I'm glad that at least one moderator is aware of the implications of certain responses even when they're perfectly factual or logical.

While I'm new here, I'm not new to forums in general. And while I did not specifically search, I did carefully browse (look for) a similar topic on the first page. Found none. Therefore, it didn't make sense (to me) that this was not an issue. I'm still gonna eventually test it, to be sure, with GoPro cams. Who knows — maybe if I'm still enthusiastic, I'll post the results here. I'm still curious about the threshold to activate the lights.

 

[LeftieBiker]

Looking at just the first page of recent posts on an active forum isn't enough. One a busy day you can have active topics two or even three pages back. And while I'm not a Mod I've done similar work in the past, and having numerous topics on the same issue isn't good for anybody. What is really needed here is a "sticky" or a "FAQ," but failing that we need people to post links to existing topics.

 

[Anonymous]

Looking at just the first page of recent posts on an active forum isn't enough. One a busy day you can have active topics two or even three pages back. And while I'm not a Mod I've done similar work in the past, and having numerous topics on the same issue isn't good for anybody. What is really needed here is a "sticky" or a "FAQ," but failing that we need people to post links to existing topics.

Firstly, the OP's quote of my post imply's that I am a moderator, which I am certainly not!


But I take exception to these statements.

The forum hosts have chosen software that does not lend itself well to continuous threads of an issue over long periods of time. An example of this was when Sean linked me to another forum's thread about the unpopularity of the Bolt EV's seats and its 27 pages! Most of these posts were "looky-loo's" who did not even own/lease Bolt EVs but had plenty to say about the topic. And having to read through 27 pages to gain a perspective is not always the best way to find out what the current thinking on an issue is, especially if that issue changes, such as with a software update.

I personally think that as the universe of Bolt EV owners expands, of course they will ask the same questions and they should get modern, fresh answers to them!

If older members of this forum are tired of reading and/or responding to these questions: DON'T! Move along... Nothing to see here for you!

STICKY's and FAQ's- Does not seem to be a "feature" of this particular forum.

Posting links to existing topics: Great idea! Be sure to do it more often! Why didn't you link the OP to answer to his question this time as well?

 

[LeftieBiker]

If older members of this forum are tired of reading and/or responding to these questions: DON'T! Move along... Nothing to see here for you!

Sadly, this now applies to me. Since the Bolt has become (because of the seats and lease terms) my "safety car" instead of my first choice, I mainly read here to keep up with how well the car is working out, and to answer questions to which I know the answer. There is a workaround to the FAQ issue, though: someone can write a FAQ as a regular post, and regularly "bump it up" so that it stays at or near the first page. I've done that in the Leaf forum, and maybe someone with more invested in the Bolt will do it here. Since it's likely that this forum will indeed become cluttered with redundant topics, you will get to experience firsthand just how well that will work. ;-)

 

[Anonymous]

If older members of this forum are tired of reading and/or responding to these questions: DON'T! Move along... Nothing to see here for you!

There is a workaround to the FAQ issue, though: someone can write a FAQ as a regular post, and regularly "bump it up" so that it stays at or near the first page.

No, the better way to do it, and I have done it in other forums, is to open a new thread as the OP and constantly update the initial message, so that new members can immediately read the most up to date information in the first message.

Then they can read the subsequent 27 pages of gobbly gook to their hearts content, if they so choose to do it!

Since the Bolt has become (because of the seats and lease terms) my "safety car" instead of my first choice, I mainly read here to keep up with how well the car is working out, and to answer questions to which I know the answer.

JFTHOI: What is a "safety" car? and what's your problem with the lease terms?

The seats are totally subjective!

At 6'1/2' and a "big" guy, I love my seat with its lumbar support; I regularly take naps in my Bolt EV with the air conditioning and radio on, if I am away from home.

 

[LeftieBiker]

You can just update a topic with the message "Please read the first post for the FAQ. The rest is discussion and these bumps." No need to read all the intervening posts.

"Safety car" = "second choice in case I have to lease a car immediately."

 

[user 1621]

Looking at just the first page of recent posts on an active forum isn't enough...

It's indeed enough because the most recent date of reply is shown on each topic. For example, right now the first page shows back to 02 August 2017, which is three weeks ago. What are we concerned about again here? Yeah this thread is getting stale if not "slightly off the rails." Maybe I should just go back to driving my Bolt EV.

And my mistake for accusing an open welcoming respondent as moderator. Sadly wrong. :roll:

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the kind words; something I rarely hear here on this forum lately!

The skinny is that you will trigger the brake lights when driving at moderate to high speeds when you take your foot off the accelerator and/or use the regen paddle all the way down to when it comes close to stop at which point the light will go off and require you to hit the brake pedal to trigger it again.

 

[dandrewk]

I know as a moderator...

I personally believe, it is a good thing for new members to bring up old issues, because they are new issues for them and new members are the life blood of any forum!

Thank you!

I'm glad that at least one moderator is aware of the implications of certain responses even when they're perfectly factual or logical.

While I'm new here, I'm not new to forums in general. And while I did not specifically search, I did carefully browse (look for) a similar topic on the first page. Found none. Therefore, it didn't make sense (to me) that this was not an issue. I'm still gonna eventually test it, to be sure, with GoPro cams. Who knows — maybe if I'm still enthusiastic, I'll post the results here. I'm still curious about the threshold to activate the lights.

I understand the difficulty in finding answers in internet forums with sub-par search functions. However, I find it hard to believe that questions like this keep getting asked when the answer is in the owner's manual.

We are always happy to help new owners, but it gets old when the same questions keep reoccurring. Some of us actually RTFM.

 

[Anonymous]

First-day new Bolt lessee here. Woohoo! Awesome vehicle!

Again to the OP: I was driving last night and watched in my rear mirror set to video mode and could clearly see the brake lights illuminating the hiway behind me when I took my foot off the accelerator!

There are other posts on this forum that will tell you the precise speed that you must be traveling before this will occur, but know that it happens!

The regen on demand paddle only functions when your foot is not on either pedal (or are braking), so by definition the brake light is already on!

As I mentioned before, there is a slow speed at which the brake light will then go off as you coast and you must hit the brake pedal to cause the brake light to once again illuminate.