Brake Light Actuation

[solar_dave]

SO what do you think the odds are of GM making this change?
The car meets all standards that are defined.

My opinion, nada, nil, noway! To do so may actually violate the standard quoted above and it may be even more risky that when the car reaches the rate of "≤ 0.7 m/s² The signal shall not be generated " the light actually must be turned off but you are still slowing.

[deekster_caddy]

...
I thought I'd try to make it interesting again by gathering some real data.
...

Thanks, I find the data fascinating. I agree that in a manual car you can exceed the decel rate of the Volt, and it's not always safe there either...

Also the point about the potential to end up with a 40 car pileup from a simple corner clip is right on (Bob_Livonia). You never know what it's going to take to trigger a major incident.

[ezfriday]

We have the suggestion for the brake lights while in L notated. It has not gone unheard! =)

-Ian Chevrolet Volt Customer Service

Many ppl are glad to hear that!

[Ron C]

Many ppl are glad to hear that!

I guess it's fortunate then that Chevy doesn't do software updates to screw up my car with this awful idea.

[solar_dave]

I guess it's fortunate then that Chevy doesn't do software updates to screw up my car with this awful idea.

Agreed! +10

[Joule Thief]

I think there is an obvious solution here that would make everyone happy. Most of us who drive in L wish we had even more aggresive regen. What GM should do is allow the driver to select how much regen they want in L within a range and increase the max to 0.3Gs. Then have the brake lights come on as per spec; activate above 0.13Gs and then stay on until you drop below 0.07Gs.

They could allow the operator to choose if the lights activate between 0.07 and 0.13 as well in a config menu. If I could get 0.2 to 0.3Gs of regen I'd be a happy camper and would have no problem with my stop lamps illuminating when above 0.13. So user adjustable, lights on when appropriate, and more available regen - what's not to like? Then Volt owners can unite again

I bet will see something like this in Volt 2.0. The upcoming Outlander PHEV allows you to select between 6 strength settings for regen using a thumb flipper on the steering wheel.

[Voltpadre]

I wonder how Cadillac will do it with the ELR. It will have paddles on the steering wheel for regen braking.
I suspect GM's giving some serious thought to this issue since its related to safety (and potential lawsuits).

[Steverino]

Want brake lights? Use the brake pedal.

[Slapshot28]

This is our all-time favorite topic, no question. Here's a poll and compilation of 13 threads (!) created through May, 2012: http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread....ion-of-Threads

As of this writing, 53% of Volt drivers drive ONLY in L (including me), 30% switch back-and-forth, 11% still are/were learning/experimenting, 5% never drive in L (including Bob).

[scottf200]

Since this topic has been talked to death (see here, here, and here. Poll: here), I thought I'd try to make it interesting again by gathering some real data. So yesterday I grabbed an accelerometer from work to measure the Volt's deceleration in L. For fun, we also measured my buddy's 2011 Mustang GT downshifting for comparison. The results may surprise you.
<snip>

Really this is one excellent post and effort. I updated it to have the poll link and added it to the FAQ.

Here is how it is listed in the FAQ so please let me know if you want different wording. Makes no difference to me I just didn't want to loose this post (and the links to others)

regen/brake light while driving in L (Actuation) - testing data for L in Volt and Mustang downshifting. Also D or L poll on usage.
http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread....929#post332929