- Mercedes In-Drive relocates the brakes to inside an EV’s motor housing
- In-Drive stays a friction-based brake system
- In-Drive is in lively testing with no timeline for manufacturing introduced
Future Mercedes-Benz EVs may not have brakes sitting behind their wheels.
Mercedes-Benz engineers in Germany confirmed Motor Authority its newest EV drivetrain innovation known as In-Drive. It is a newly developed system that strikes the brakes from behind the wheels to inside an EV’s motor casing. Mercedes is internally calling the system “the brake of the longer term.”
Engineers informed MA the In-Drive system is already in lively testing, however stopped in need of confirming manufacturing or a timeline for manufacturing.Â
In-Drive remains to be a friction-based brake system with pads and steel rotors that gradual the automobile utilizing stress. However the whole system is sealed, enclosed throughout the EV drive unit’s housing. A rotor and pad bookend the electrical motor throughout the steel housing. To maintain issues cool since there isn’t any airflow, the system is water cooled, although engineers are nonetheless taking part in with totally different fluids and viscosities because the unit must discharge quite a lot of warmth with out a radiator.
Solely about 2% of braking is mechanical for an EV, whereas 98% might be dealt with by regenerative braking, in accordance with Mercedes’ engineering group.
At the moment’s EQS is able to as much as 290 kw of recuperation by the regenerative braking system, whereas tomorrow’s 2026 CLA-Class EV will probably be able to 200 kw of recuperation.
Stated to be designed for the lifetime of the automobile, which Mercedes defines as 15 years or 186,400 miles, such a system might decrease working prices. The system’s pads last more than at the moment’s brake pads as they embody the whole disc and thus have extra floor space.
Mercedes designed the system be capable of mount to the middle of a entrance axle sans electrical motor for single-motor rear-wheel-drive purposes. Transferring the braking system to the middle of the automobile will displace and take away unsprung mass, which in flip will enhance dealing with.
Mercedes mentioned at the moment the system is dearer than conventional brakes, however the purpose is to carry the price right down to be equal to conventional brakes.
Mercedes-Benz paid for journey and lodging for Motor Authority to carry you this report
