this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2025
413 points (97.3% liked)
Technology
76986 readers
2967 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related news or articles.
- Be excellent to each other!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
- Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.
Approved Bots
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Never seen the third pedal on an American car/truck?
It's not a "huge space" and the reason is because they're significantly less expensive, more reliable, and easier to adjust and repair.
I own a truck with such a pedal and I own a manual car. I’ve only ever had the pedal on trucks. All the cars I’ve ever owned have all been hand levers(regardless of transmission). If it wasn’t clear…I’m not arguing for this change but I semi-understand why it’s coming.
I’m not happy about the near entire extinction of the manual transmission in the US either. There are only a handful of cars that even offer it anymore and most of those are performance models with hefty price tags.
They put them in cars, too...
Conversely…they put the electric parking brakes in the higher trims of American trucks too. So what’s your point?
My point is the electric parking brakes are not necessary or beneficial in any way. They only serve to make the vehicle more expensive and less reliable.
Most manufacturers don’t do something simply to make stuff more expensive. If anything I’ve seen them make really dumb decisions cause it saves them 25 cents per vehicle…but they make 800K of them a year. Which is 200k in savings for a single part.
One of the major benefits and drawbacks to a mechanical parking brake is the physical cable that needs to be routed. It needs to be protected from the elements, exhaust heat, etc. Removing that frees them up to design other parts differently which could lead to more cost savings. That’s parts both inside and outside the vehicle.
On my truck with a mechanical parking brake actuated by a pedal the rear rotor is also a drum brake. The parking brake uses the inside of the disc rotor as a drum brake while the normal brakes use the calipers and pads like a normal disc brake. The electric parking brake version has none of the drum brake components. It’s basically a traditional disc brake setup with motor hanging off the back of the caliper to squeeze the pads.
I’m nearly positive the electric parking brake version is cheaper overall to implement. It doesn’t have two full braking systems in the rear. I’d imagine there are potential warranty savings here as well as dealer hours. The electric brakes don’t need adjustment like the manual ones do after changes. And while the ‘maintenance mode’ as discussed in the article can be abused not all manufacturers do that. Some just make you do a series of steps and done. No computer needed at all.
I’ll agree reliability is a concern as the electric brake won’t actuate when the power is off. However, it does stay clamped in the event the battery dies.
That’s not what I said. I said I’ve never owned one. They’re far more common on trucks/vans. I know cars have them. Usually more towards the luxury side of the market but that again comes down to making the interior look more streamlined and fancy.
I'm not sure what your point was in that statement if not to infer that they don't exist.