Can I put it safely into neutral while moving?

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genec

Well-known member
Joined
May 3, 2015
Messages
59
I want to throw it into neutral while driving but I'm afraid i could overshoot and throw it into reverse or park. Is this possible?
 
i do it all the time--no problem. It only changes the position of an electrical switch indicating the gear, not any real gear shifting going on--except park does engage a locking pawl on the drive gears. But there is a wide gate that must be navigated to get to park, N to D is just a simple push within the same throw with no side gate action.
 
Depends on how ham handed you are.

From "B" to "N" are all steps up and to the right slightly, there is a gate and step left to go up to "R" which makes it fairly safe to shift to neutral. But you know, the mechanically oblivious could blow it ;).
 
I do it all the time. I also give the shifter a slight push to the right to make sure it stops at neutral and doesn't slip into reverse (although nothing bad happens if you do slip into reverse, you definitely want to avoid Park while moving. Park will tear something up).

It's kind of funny. Before the i-MiEV, I never could understand why cars had gated shifters, now I can't imagine going back to a linear shifter :lol: .
 
Technically, we don't have a neutral - The motor is directly connected to the wheels all the time, no matter what 'gear' is selected

Don
 
Has anyone tried to throw it into park while moving? Maybe the Miev is smart enough to not engage it until the car comes to a stop.
 
You can practice shifting from D to N and N to D, with the car off. Just turn the key to the first position,ON, and it will release the gear lever when you apply the brake pedal. Once you see that there is no detent or gate between N and D, then you will appreciate the simplicity and ease with which you can do this while driving. Engage the parking brake if on an incline because the car will easily roll on a slope. You can practice shifting through all the gates like this and determine which require the brake pedal to be pressed and which don't.

For example, your foot must be on the brake pedal to put it in, or take it out, of Park, so it likely can't be done while driving. Park includes an actual locking mechanism in the gearbox so the tires would lock up and skid if it were done while moving.
 
genec said:
Has anyone tried to throw it into park while moving? Maybe the Miev is smart enough to not engage it until the car comes to a stop.
Don't do this! The parking pawl has a direct mechanical connection to the shifter. I've accidentally slid into Park when trying to put the car in reverse while rolling forward slowly. It engages immediately and slams the car to a stop.

Reverse, however, is handled electrically, and the car will coast until about 6 MPH, then regen to a stop and power in reverse. Same thing coming from Reverse to a drive mode.

Park can be engaged without your foot on the brake, but you do have to push the brake to come out of Park.
 
Frequently, when backing my Meepster out of the driveway or out of a parking space, I will throw it into drive before I've come to a complete stop. The iMiEV just regen/slows itself to a stop and then immediately starts going forward. Kinda neat, actually!
 
genec said:
I want to throw it into neutral while driving but I'm afraid i could overshoot and throw it into reverse or park. Is this possible?
Well-answered already. IIRC Jenn did put it into reverse and the software saved her as it recognized the car was moving forward and thus ignored the Reverse signal. When hypermiling, I spend roughly 1/3 of the time in Neutral, and in over 60K miles haven't yet popped it into reverse (knock on wood). Associated with this topic, here are a couple of other threads you might peruse (from the early days) -

http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=292

http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1210#p1210
 
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