- 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 production announced
Future Mercedes-Benz EVs won’t have brakes sitting behind their wheels.
Mercedes-Benz engineers in Germany showed Motor Authority its latest EV drivetrain innovation called In-Drive. It is a newly developed system that moves the brakes from behind the wheels to inside an EV’s motor casing. Mercedes is internally calling the system “the brake of the long run.”
Engineers told MA the In-Drive system is already in lively testing, but stopped wanting confirming production or a timeline for production.
In-Drive remains to be a friction-based brake system with pads and metal rotors that slow the vehicle using pressure. But the whole system is sealed, enclosed inside the EV drive unit’s housing. A rotor and pad bookend the electrical motor inside the metal housing. To maintain things cool since there is no airflow, the system is water cooled, though engineers are still twiddling with different fluids and viscosities because the unit must discharge plenty of heat with no radiator.
Only about 2% of braking is mechanical for an EV, while 98% will be handled by regenerative braking, in response to Mercedes’ engineering team.
Today’s EQS is able to as much as 290 kw of recuperation through the regenerative braking system, while tomorrow’s 2026 CLA-Class EV will likely be able to 200 kw of recuperation.
Said to be designed for the lifetime of the vehicle, which Mercedes defines as 15 years or 186,400 miles, any such system could lower operating costs. The system’s pads last more than today’s brake pads as they encompass the whole disc and thus have more surface area.
Mercedes designed the system give you the option to mount to the middle of a front axle sans electric motor for single-motor rear-wheel-drive applications. Moving the braking system to the middle of the vehicle will displace and take away unsprung mass, which in turn will improve handling.
Mercedes said today the system is costlier than traditional brakes, however the goal is to bring the associated fee right down to be equal to traditional brakes.
Mercedes-Benz paid for travel and lodging for Motor Authority to bring you this report
This Article First Appeared At www.motorauthority.com
