If you have ever driven a BMW i3, you know that when you lift your foot off the accelerator pedal, it’s like throwing out the anchor on a boat. The car doesn’t just coast; it actively slows down as if you had stepped on the brake. Except you didn’t.
It’s called regenerative braking. This is a system that slows the vehicle by converting its kinetic energy—in this case forward speed—into potential energy—electricity that charges the car’s high-voltage batteries.
Getting used to the sensation of braking without using the brakes in an i3 doesn't take too long. After a few city miles, you know what to expect. After a few miles more, you can start to fine-tune the process of lifting off the accelerator pedal—which could probably now be called the accelerator/decelerator pedal—in order to slow down or even come to a complete stop, as necessary. You could almost make a game out of it.
Two British Auto Express editors did make a game of it. Well, more of a bet than a game, but they still did it for fun as well as to explore the i3’s capabilities and nuances.
The scene was central London, which guaranteed congestion and a variety of vehicles, pedestrians, and other potential obstacles. The game was to see who could drive a route in London using the i3’s brake pedal the least.
Place your bets and enjoy the video.—Scott Blazey
[Photos and video courtesy of Auto Express.]
