Mercedes-Benz planning to scrap conventional brakes

Mercedes-Benz has unveiled its vision for the future of car brakes and, incredibly, there’s not a large brake disc in sight.

Instead, its new replacement for traditional mechanical brakes will be incorporated within the casing of its next-generation electric drive unit.

Occupying a fraction of the space current rotors, pads and calipers, the new arrangement provides braking for the entire life of the car, while being completely maintenance-free.

The key advantage is, even under heavy braking, no particulate emissions are released into the atmosphere.

Both ride and handling are also improved as in-drive brakes slash unsprung mass.

Even the range of an EV will be boosted, as wheels will no longer need to include openings to vent heat away from hot discs.

Mercedes engineers said they even considered getting rid of physical brakes altogether and rely on regenerative braking to slow its future cars, something even current tech can handle 95 per cent of the time.

The problem is it’s the final five per cent that usually involves the heaviest of braking and would require a 2000kW motor to safely stop the car from high speed.

Then there’s the issue of where to send all the electrical energy, especially if said huge stop happens when you have a battery full of charge.

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