Oh No. End of an era.

[WelshGas]

Electric cars spell end of handbrake turns​

Chokes, cassette players and wind-up windows are relics rarely seen in cars nowadays, and now the traditional handbrake could be the next familiar feature to disappear.
New models of electric cars that were made with a traditional handbrake fell by nearly a third last year. Of the 550 cars available to buy in the UK from 38 manufacturers, just 92 have a handbrake, online marketplace CarGurus found.
The emergence of electric cars and the departure of Mitsubishi – which had handbrake levers in 57 per cent of its range – from the UK market has contributed to the decline, researchers said.
Registrations of battery electric cars have soared 86 per cent year-on-year from 75,946 to 141,296.
Electronic parking brakes take up less interior space and are deemed safer and easier to use, disengaging automatically when drivers pull away and often including a hill-hold assist function. They cannot be activated on the move, spelling the end of handbrake turns.
Ford and Hyundai have the most models with traditional handbrake levers, at nine each.
In the past 12 months, popular models that stopped including the device were the BMW 4 series, Vauxhall Corsa and Seat Leon. None of the 60 Porsche models or any of the Mercedes-Benz range in the UK has a physical handbrake. Other manufacturers without the feature in their British range include Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover, Honda and Alfa Romeo.

 

[ThomasHJ]

Perhaps this means that in our new T9 California's in 2040 we can all swivel the front seat without any hassle ;-) Innovation wooohoo!

 

[pluc99]

I'm imagining you performing a handbrake turn in your fully laden Cali. Spoiler alert: it doesn't turn out well

 

[andyinluton]

Just been testing the handbrake on the UP prior to todays MOT I can confirm it works well & a proper handbrake turn can be done. Greatly helped by the ridiculously short length of the car.

 

[rod_vw]

Have a long read here https://www.t6forum.com/threads/epb-retrofit-the-way-to-stop-go.23626/

By the way, my 1946 Beetle with cable brakes has the handbrake working on all four wheels and a few vehicles, Commer van for instance, had the handbrake on the front wheels. Don't ever try a handbrake turn in them!

 

[willwander]

Aww what a shame

 

[andyinluton]

Have a long read here https://www.t6forum.com/threads/epb-retrofit-the-way-to-stop-go.23626/

By the way, my 1946 Beetle with cable brakes has the handbrake working on all four wheels and a few vehicles, Commer van for instance, had the handbrake on the front wheels. Don't ever try a handbrake turn in them!

There are worse set ups. The Discovery2 handbrake operated on the transmission, there were a couple of problems, putting the high/ low ratio box in neutral meant the bit that the brake was working on wasn't connected to the wheels. The other problem was that you could only use it at very low speed or stationary, putting it on whilst moving meant it would self destruct.

 

[Calimili]

everything electronic, even a simple hand brake. how come there is a chip shortage ?

 

[kurienp]

A new era begins - hey Google, handbrake turn. It will very soon be an option. Remember the rivian tank turn?

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

 

[Skylark2.0]

I experienced my first electronic hand brake in Spain, I was sceptical. Nearly 20 years ago. It was OK until the 1:4 (optimistically) hill when the damn thing failed with 3.5 adults in the car. Just as well I'm nifty with my pins, somehow I managed the Mother of all hill starts. It still brings us all out in a sweat. Scary or what.

 

[Loz2286]

There are worse set ups. The Discovery2 handbrake operated on the transmission, there were a couple of problems, putting the high/ low ratio box in neutral meant the bit that the brake was working on wasn't connected to the wheels. The other problem was that you could only use it at very low speed or stationary, putting it on whilst moving meant it would self destruct.

All the 20th Century Land Rovers had transmission brakes. I've owned many. Usually the brake operated on a drum mounted onto the rear propshaft. Applying the handbrake while in motion often resulted in blown differentials. The other quirk of these handbrakes was the "hand-brake rock" - the vehicle could move up to 6" on the brake; really entertaining if other people tried to touch park, a 2 tonne girder fronted LR would nudge them back.