Somewhere in the murky depths of what masquerades as my memory these days, is an awareness that some of us were briefly talking about the problems electric cars, with their regenerative braking systems, are experiencing. The problem seems to very much revolve around the fact that regenerative braking cuts back on the use of conventional brakes to such an extent that the discs, especially on the rear, see so little use that they corrode rapidly and need to be renewed frequently.
My son in law's "ride" is a fully electric Skoda Enyaq 80 so it was with great interest that I observed this:
It's a rear wheel of course and, looking more closely, through the spokes of the wheel you can see:
Yes, a whopping great big drum brake!
The fronts are, unsurprisingly, discs, and pretty big ones at that - for comparison the wheels are 19" rims:
I think they are sensible and appropriate and certainly don't seem to be rusting any more quickly than on any other application. Discs on the rear of petrol engined vehicles rust quickly enough due to not having to do much work and getting blasted with all the road rubbish - grit, salt etc - from the front wheels. Electric cars compound this problem so much because the rear brakes do next to nothing. An enclosed drum brake of course gets round these problems to a very large extent. I like drum rears and would welcome them back on the majority of every day cars.
While I was dodging around looking at this I noticed the tyres - once a tyre man, always a tire man! - and noticed that apart from being quite a large diameter - 19 inch - wheel the tyres, at 225/50R19, were not outlandishly big considering the size of the car - Behemoth might be marginally overstating it? - But then I noticed this:
on the sidewall. It's a tyre specifically manufactured for electric vehicular use. Mentioned it to my son in law and he said "Oh yes, actually we had a puncture a few weeks ago, luckily a slow so I was able to drive to the garage." This vehicle is on some sort of lease deal so his garage directed him straight to a well known fast fit store who declared the tyre unrepairable and fitted a new one. He didn't have to pay as it's all covered by his maintenance agreement but he did inquire what it would have cost him. The chap was a bit evasive but mentioned "probably in excess of £200".
I also noticed the construction listing on the side of the tyre:
Which all looks quite "ordinary" in terms of sidewall and tread ply construction until I notice "Polyamide". Nylon, Rayon, Polyester and other less common materials I'm used to but, it looks like the world has moved on again because I've not seed Polyamide before. Went over to my Scala and, blow me, it's the same! You need to keep up young Jock!
Anyway, it then started to rain so we went back indoors to be greeted by the delightful sight of their dog, a Labradoodle, taking her ease on the corner setee:
It's where I usually sit and read my book but I hadn't the heart to disturb her!
My son in law's "ride" is a fully electric Skoda Enyaq 80 so it was with great interest that I observed this:
It's a rear wheel of course and, looking more closely, through the spokes of the wheel you can see:
Yes, a whopping great big drum brake!
The fronts are, unsurprisingly, discs, and pretty big ones at that - for comparison the wheels are 19" rims:
I think they are sensible and appropriate and certainly don't seem to be rusting any more quickly than on any other application. Discs on the rear of petrol engined vehicles rust quickly enough due to not having to do much work and getting blasted with all the road rubbish - grit, salt etc - from the front wheels. Electric cars compound this problem so much because the rear brakes do next to nothing. An enclosed drum brake of course gets round these problems to a very large extent. I like drum rears and would welcome them back on the majority of every day cars.
While I was dodging around looking at this I noticed the tyres - once a tyre man, always a tire man! - and noticed that apart from being quite a large diameter - 19 inch - wheel the tyres, at 225/50R19, were not outlandishly big considering the size of the car - Behemoth might be marginally overstating it? - But then I noticed this:
on the sidewall. It's a tyre specifically manufactured for electric vehicular use. Mentioned it to my son in law and he said "Oh yes, actually we had a puncture a few weeks ago, luckily a slow so I was able to drive to the garage." This vehicle is on some sort of lease deal so his garage directed him straight to a well known fast fit store who declared the tyre unrepairable and fitted a new one. He didn't have to pay as it's all covered by his maintenance agreement but he did inquire what it would have cost him. The chap was a bit evasive but mentioned "probably in excess of £200".
I also noticed the construction listing on the side of the tyre:
Which all looks quite "ordinary" in terms of sidewall and tread ply construction until I notice "Polyamide". Nylon, Rayon, Polyester and other less common materials I'm used to but, it looks like the world has moved on again because I've not seed Polyamide before. Went over to my Scala and, blow me, it's the same! You need to keep up young Jock!
Anyway, it then started to rain so we went back indoors to be greeted by the delightful sight of their dog, a Labradoodle, taking her ease on the corner setee:
It's where I usually sit and read my book but I hadn't the heart to disturb her!