disabling creep mode?

OK my first week with it .

Noticed at the light in Eco or drive that it creeps.

Is there a way to disable it?

Is it only active and using power when foot is off the brake? Thank you

I'm pretty sure I recall it only uses power when the brake pressure is below a certain level. I.e, the motor doesn't waste power fighting the brakes when you're stopped.

Whether or not you care for creep is a personal preference. I previously had driven manual transmissions and was certain I did NOT want to have creep. But after getting the LEAF I quickly came to appreciate it. It feels natural to me now and I find it very convenient.

I guess they can disable it on the Teslas...pshhh!

Or you could buy/lease a BMW i3.

I don't have confirmation that it's disabled (and can't be enabled) on US vehicles but that's the way they were on the vehicles I test drive at CES in January 2014. I believe they were Euro-spec pre-production units though.

Or you could buy/lease a BMW i3.

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And be stuck with strong Regen, all the time.

LeftieBiker said:

Or you could buy/lease a BMW i3.

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And be stuck with strong Regen, all the time.

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That took me a minute. To me, that is like saying, "And be stuck with a $20 bill, all the time".

I am sure there are some that prefer not to have regen, just as there are those who prefer the creep function.

I myself love the one pedal driving strong regen offers, and hate having the car move on its own where the much more precise control 'creep off' offers has become far preferable.

I am hoping the next gen Leaf offers the owner the ability to modify each of these behaviors.

There are times when I like and use the creep function, and times when I don't. It would be nice to be able to flip a switch and disable it, but more often than not, I appreciate having it behave the way it does and don't see it as a "must have" feature to turn it off.

TT

ttweed said:

There are times when I like and use the creep function, and times when I don't. It would be nice to be able to flip a switch and disable it, but more often than not, I appreciate having it behave the way it does and don't see it as a "must have" feature to turn it off.

TT

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I generally agree. I especially like the reverse creep for backing out of my garage and parking spaces in crowded parking lots (where I want my foot on the brake to stop at once if needed). Forward creep I can take or leave; nearly all of my driving experience is with manual transmissions (400k miles) and I am quite good at holding the car on steep hills with the parking brake while I shift into gear after a stop (as opposed to "riding the clutch" like so many do). But the LEAF hill-holder function is excellent and much appreciated.

Creep has been much debated here at MNL and the idea that it gives an important cue to the driver about whether the car is in forward or reverse makes sense to me. That's plenty of reason to keep the creep in my view.

Pardon my ignorance I live in a hilly area. Never had an interest in learning stick. Why not use the brake instead of the ebrake?

Speaking of shifting, I would imagine it is OK to shift at any time in any direction since their is no transmission and no gears to mash? I flip from coasting in D to slowing down for lights with Eco.

Finally while going 15 mph forward I accidentally put it in reverse. ( playing with the joystick too much)

kieranmullen said:

Pardon my ignorance I live in a hilly area. Never had an interest in learning stick. Why not use the brake instead of the ebrake?

Speaking of shifting, I would imagine it is OK to shift at any time in any direction since their is no transmission and no gears to mash? I flip from coasting in D to slowing down for lights with Eco.

Finally while going 15 mph forward I accidentally put it in reverse. ( playing with the joystick too much)

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Valid questions. On manual transmission cars it is proper procedure to shift to neutral when coming to a stop. People who don't do this just depress the clutch, known as "riding the clutch" and leading to unnecessary wear on the device. To hold position while stopped on a hill, those who ride the clutch release the clutch somewhat and let it slip (and wear) without taking the car out of gear and shifting into neutral. The proper procedure is to shift to neutral, hold the car with the brake, then briefly apply the parking (hand) brake while shifting into first gear to keep the car from rolling backward into the car behind (very embarrassing!). It is pretty easy to do with practice, but it is one reason why most people drive automatic transmission cars: "stomp and steer" is much easier to learn, albeit much less fun to drive than a manual transmission.

The LEAF has a hill-holder function: when you come to a stop going up a hill and release the brake, the car will hold position for a couple of seconds before rolling backward. This gives plenty of time to use the accelerator to get the car moving forward. In a car with no creep or hill-holder function it would roll backward when the brake is released and you'd have to be pretty quick to apply the accelerator on a steep hill to avoid hitting the car stopped behind. Or you'd have to use the parking brake.

As for shifting any time, yes you have it about right. The motor always turns in the same direction, is directly connected to the front wheels, and whether it provides power forward, reverse, or regen braking, depends on the magnetic fields applied.

If you are going forward above seven miles per hour and you shift to reverse the car will beep at you and shift to neutral (this is the quickest way to shift to neutral, but beware of doing it below seven mph or you will actually get reverse, which can be a rude shock). It works similarly when going in reverse and shifting to D (or Eco).

kieranmullen said:

I guess they can disable it on the Teslas...pshhh!

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Being able to easily turn it off was one of the nice things I noticed when I test drove a Model S. I've only owned manuals before and creep just seems wrong to me.

kieranmullen said:

OK my first week with it .

Noticed at the light in Eco or drive that it creeps.

Is there a way to disable it?
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No way to disable it.
NHTSA rules mandate reverse creep and I agree that is probably the safer choice in reverse. Very useful for slow back out of parking spots while being ready with foot over brake.
The problem with the LEAF forward creep is it is way too fast. My 2009 Altima hardly creeps forward at all. The LEAF forward creep in comparison is dangerously fast.
It is useful like for entry into a bank drive through.
But in an electric vehicle I think the correct application is hill hold only with no forward movement unless the driver selects forward creep and that should deactivate after a short period like 30 seconds.

A risk with electric vehicles is people failing to put them in Park when in a hurry, tired, or distracted.
Creep just adds risk to that hazard.
See recent post about LEAF rolling 400 feet while "parked".
http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=16879#p368584" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
High chance it wasn't in Park.

I have been playing with this as well. I have found in our 13 S that if you depress the brake pedal a bit harder than usual it stops the creep. You can tell if you have depressed the pedal enough because there will be a 1/4 to 1/2 second delay getting off the brake to start creeping again. I have been trying to figure out how far it has to be depressed before it shuts off creep and I am not sure if you slowly let up if it enables creep again or only once your totally off the brake.

BrockWI said:

I have been playing with this as well. I have found in our 13 S that if you depress the brake pedal a bit harder than usual it stops the creep. You can tell if you have depressed the pedal enough because there will be a 1/4 to 1/2 second delay getting off the brake to start creeping again. I have been trying to figure out how far it has to be depressed before it shuts off creep and I am not sure if you slowly let up if it enables creep again or only once your totally off the brake.

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If creep is off, then when you take your foot all the way off the break, the car doesn't move at all until you press the accelerator. That doesn't sound like what you are doing.

Your correct, when you take you foot off the brakes the creep starts again, but with the brakes lightly depressed it seems like the motor is still in creep mode, am I crazy?

I would love creep mode off, I am to used to driving sticks, I shouldn't do it, but I find myself hitting neutral and then shifting back in to drive when I need to go.

BrockWI said:

Your correct, when you take you foot off the brakes the creep starts again, but with the brakes lightly depressed it seems like the motor is still in creep mode, am I crazy?

I would love creep mode off, I am to used to driving sticks, I shouldn't do it, but I find myself hitting neutral and then shifting back in to drive when I need to go.

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I think you are right.
I have speculated before that the grabby brakes problem may largely be caused by the built in creep fighting light brake pedal application.
Ultimately the braking has priority and what you get is rapidly grabbing brakes when the creep stops.

I haven't done shifting into neutral to kill creep.
Only do it for coasting on the right downgrades.
But I might try it.

TimLee said:

NHTSA rules mandate reverse creep and I agree that is probably the safer choice in reverse. Very useful for slow back out of parking spots while being ready with foot over brake.

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Oh really? Tesla must be breaking the rules then, because my wife's Model X has neither forward nor reverse creep when creep is disabled. I just got a Leaf last night, and the annoyance of creep is the first thing I've wanted to change the settings on. Sad to find it's not an option.

Creep is very subjective. Both of my Leaf's and my Mercedes B had creep. My eGolf has no creep in the forward direction and I wish it did. I have found that I like creep! It is nice to just lit off of the brake and have the car inch forward. in my opinion CREEP IS GOOD!

GlennD said:

In my opinion

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That's the crux of the issue: some like it, some don't. I came from driving manuals; creep is alien to me. It's probably quite expected for those used to automatic transmissions.

Tesla made it a selectable option. That's the best answer (in my opinion).

jlv said:

GlennD said:

In my opinion

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That's the crux of the issue: some like it, some don't. I came from driving manuals; creep is alien to me. It's probably quite expected for those used to automatic transmissions.

Tesla made it a selectable option. That's the best answer (in my opinion).

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+1, I also like creep although I mostly came from stick shift cars with no creep. What I DON'T like is some ICE cars have creep that really take off, like stepping on the gas, that I DON'T like that! I agree, make it user selectable, not that big of a deal I'd think