Leaf / Zoe Service Costs

[budfox]

Having driven 9k miles in the Leaf now I reckon the brakes would have received around 30-40% of the wear that would be expected from those on a conventional car.

The reason being that not only does regen braking reduce the need to brake, but my driving style has changed a lot because of that system. That means thinking further ahead to make best use of regen, and driving more sedately to maximise range.

Driving an EV is a much gentler experience and as any owner will tell you, they really would rather use regen than the wasted energy pedal.

[Seany88]

blueacid said:

charltjr said:

Never heard that one before. Got a link or any more technical info on why that would be?

I haven't any technical info but I can wildly speculate: after all this is the internet.

On conventional cars, most of the retardation is from the friction of the brakes (yes yes, engine braking exists too, but it's not doing the majority of the work).
Therefore the brake system has to convert a good chunk of kinetic energy into heat.

On a hybrid or EV, kinetic energy suddenly has far more worth: rather than turning that energy into heat, it instead can be captured by using it to run a generator and charge the batteries back up. That's less work for the brakes to do (meaning they stay cooler and the pads are not consumed as quickly).

This staying cooler business is what's been pointed out - with braking components over 100c, any water can be boiled and hopefully move away from the hot bits.. presumably prolonging the life of the fluid versus if this didn't happen.

I can't say I'm anything other than skeptical: the biggest risk is presumably a few corroded brake lines, which can be replaced. I don't think every car gets the brakes right up to 100c on a regular basis: consider commuter cars and ones used around town. They seem to get on okay with changes every couple of years..

My 1st gen Honda Insight just had a MOT advisory on corroded brake lines, presumably because I use the conventional brakes as little as possible.