Why Electric Cars Still Use The Unsafe ‘Creep’ Mode

Many EVs still mimic gas cars with the outdated “creep” motion. Tesla removed it, but most automakers keep it for familiarity, not necessity.

Many familiar traits of internal combustion cars have migrated into the world of electric vehicles. One of the strangest and most debated is “creep” — the slow forward motion when a driver releases the brake. Once a necessity of automatic transmissions, it now feels like an outdated habit in the age of precise electric motors and programmable controls.

The feature originated with General Motors’ Hydra-Matic transmission in the 1940s. Engineers then couldn’t fully disconnect the engine from the wheels without a clutch, so the car would inevitably inch forward. Over time, this became a norm — a compromise generations of drivers accepted as natural.

As technology advanced, automakers had chances to abandon it. Automated gearboxes from BMW and Ferrari, and later Tesla’s EVs, showed that cars can stay still without creeping. Yet many brands — from Volkswagen and Mercedes to Hyundai and Ford — continue to preserve the feature, often by default.

In 2024, Tesla completely removed creep from its Model 3 and Model Y, keeping only the smooth Hold mode. Mercedes EQS, by contrast, still allows drivers to toggle creep on or off. In the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6, avoiding creeping depends on activating Auto Hold, while BMW’s i4 achieves a stationary stop in its B mode.

Neither U.S. FMVSS standards nor Euro NCAP protocols require creep; it remains an engineering and behavioral choice. No separate crash statistics exist for creep-related incidents, but experts note that unintentional low-speed motion can pose safety risks.

For many drivers, creep is simply familiar. Yet from a technological and safety perspective, it increasingly looks like an anachronism. Electric vehicles can remain perfectly still, respond instantly, and modulate movement precisely. As the era of gasoline cars fades, this mechanical leftover from the 1940s may finally disappear with them.