Running an electric vehicle efficiently means avoiding frictional braking whenever possible. Deceleration only by the regeneration mode of the electric engine is sufficient for most of the standard vehicle use cases. Through consequent use of regenerative braking mode, the number of friction brake applications can be reduced by 80 %, provided that a battery electric vehicle is used instead of combustion engine powered vehicle.
Nevertheless, the full brake performance, exceeding regenerative braking performance, needs to be permanently available in case of need for higher deceleration or emergency braking. That is the point where today’s brake systems with cast iron rotors meet their limits. Progressive corrosion may lead to brake comfort issues, reduced brake performance and finally to the breakdown of the system.
To avoid such safety issues, novel architectures, vehicle subsystems, components and a new brake system design are investigated in the ACHILES project.
