Why an EV costing 45,000 euros simply gives you poor drum brakes

The automobile had only existed for fifteen years when the first drum brakes were used on cars. Wooden brakes were used for this. Tradition has it that Wilhelm Maybach was the first to install a drum brake on a car in 1900, but that Louis Renault filed a patent two years later. The disc brake has now largely replaced the drum brake and you often only saw the old-fashioned brake on the rear axle in light and cheaper models. But they are making a comeback on EVs.

Now that the small car is dying out, you would think that drum brakes would soon disappear too. With heavy and expensive electric cars, you would expect there to be disc brakes all around to bring things to a stop. And yet, for example, you see drums on the back of a Skoda Enyaq costing 45,000 euros. Or the Cupra in the photo above. Skoda wrote an explanation a while ago why the brand uses the old-fashioned drum brakes on electric cars like the Enyaq.

EV drivers hardly use the brakes

Electric cars largely brake using the electric motor in order to recover energy. The Enyaq's electric motor is on the rear axle, so the rear brakes are hardly used. And as you now know, brake discs that are not used much rust very quickly. Now a little rust is no problem, but after a long time the rust can become problematic.

Drum brakes are closed and are less susceptible to rust. Moreover, brake discs are not necessarily necessary, since the electric motor does most of the braking work. Another advantage is that drum brakes are also cheaper to produce than disc brakes, especially if you also have to incorporate the parking brake into the brake.

More advantages of drum brakes for electric cars

Drum brakes would also last longer. According to Volkswagen, the ID.4's drum brakes last the life of the car. This saves money for the buyer, but also for VW itself (although they do not earn money on spare parts). And as a final advantage, a drum brake blows less particulate matter into the air.

Both drum and disc brakes release brake dust, but with old-fashioned brakes the dust remains in the drum. During a service, a technician can take the brake apart and remove the dust. Well, it won't improve the air quality of the Netherlands overnight, but every little bit helps, right?