EVs, regen and rusty brakes

[Reed]

It's crazy because cars are mostly rust free here in WA state. Vancity isn't THAT much snowier than Seattle. Moss on the other hand...

I'm not picking up so much salt here in the Vancouver/Burnaby area. It's the higher elevation roads leading north from Whistler and east from Hope.

Before I owned the truck, it was driven daily from Pemberton to Whistler. I've driven up there in the winter, as well as up into the Coquihalla and Manning Park.

I think the Coquihalla is the worst. I come back from there with the truck covered in sand, silt and salt - the three deadly S's. I've even taken to carrying a jug of water in winter to wash the headlights while I'm driving home in the dark. They get completely covered over with dirt.

I'm just hoping my Rivian arrives before the rust really goes crazy in the Taco!

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[Sdvictor]

I'm not picking up so much salt here in the Vancouver/Burnaby area. It's the higher elevation roads leading north from Whistler and east from Hope.

Before I owned the truck, it was driven daily from Pemberton to Whistler. I've driven up there in the winter, as well as up into the Coquihalla and Manning Park.

I think the Coquihalla is the worst. I come back from there with the truck covered in sand, silt and salt - the three deadly S's. I've even taken to carrying a jug of water in winter to wash the headlights while I'm driving home in the dark. They get completely covered over with dirt.

I'm just hoping my Rivian arrives before the rust really goes crazy in the Taco!

Hopefully the Alu body will help with corrosion resistance.

BTW, it still seems like BC's EV charging network is still lacking vs that of WA state. For example, the closest DCFC to Whistler that's of decent charge speed (over 50kw) is going to be an EC charger in Squamish. I guess it''s all theoretical now given that the resort is all on lockdown, and the border is closed.

 

[NNY]

I drove a Mustang Mach-e as my first all electric vehicle experience which made me realize how little I would need the brakes. As I live in Northern NY, where snow is plentiful and salt is the chosen flavoring of winter, this topic became a concern of mine also. I reached out to CS on this question. Maybe this is old news...

In the event when you need to use the brakes in adverse conditions or in an emergency, the Brembo brakes will ensure the vehicle comes to a safe and complete stop. Each Rivian will come with 6 piston brakes in the front and smaller 4 piston brakes in the rear. Given Brembo's reputation in the automotive world for reliability and stopping power, you can be at ease if the brakes aren't used often. Over time, if the brakes do require servicing, our mobile service team will be able to come to your location and make the repair right on the spot. If more involved maintenance is required, we'll pick up The Rivian, take it to a physical service center for you.

I know very little about brake OEMs. Thoughts on Brembo and these specs.?

 

[Drterreur]

I drove a Mustang Mach-e as my first all electric vehicle experience which made me realize how little I would need the brakes. As I live in Northern NY, where snow is plentiful and salt is the chosen flavoring of winter, this topic became a concern of mine also. I reached out to CS on this question. Maybe this is old news...

In the event when you need to use the brakes in adverse conditions or in an emergency, the Brembo brakes will ensure the vehicle comes to a safe and complete stop. Each Rivian will come with 6 piston brakes in the front and smaller 4 piston brakes in the rear. Given Brembo's reputation in the automotive world for reliability and stopping power, you can be at ease if the brakes aren't used often. Over time, if the brakes do require servicing, our mobile service team will be able to come to your location and make the repair right on the spot. If more involved maintenance is required, we'll pick up The Rivian, take it to a physical service center for you.

I know very little about brake OEMs. Thoughts on Brembo and these specs.?

They should have good stopping power.

The concern do remain valid however as caliper pins and brake pads contact regions with the caliper will become dirty, rust and get stuck if not used, unless brembo have special alloys.

 

[DucRider]

I drove a Mustang Mach-e as my first all electric vehicle experience which made me realize how little I would need the brakes. As I live in Northern NY, where snow is plentiful and salt is the chosen flavoring of winter, this topic became a concern of mine also. I reached out to CS on this question. Maybe this is old news...

In the event when you need to use the brakes in adverse conditions or in an emergency, the Brembo brakes will ensure the vehicle comes to a safe and complete stop. Each Rivian will come with 6 piston brakes in the front and smaller 4 piston brakes in the rear. Given Brembo's reputation in the automotive world for reliability and stopping power, you can be at ease if the brakes aren't used often. Over time, if the brakes do require servicing, our mobile service team will be able to come to your location and make the repair right on the spot. If more involved maintenance is required, we'll pick up The Rivian, take it to a physical service center for you.

I know very little about brake OEMs. Thoughts on Brembo and these specs.?

Brembo is a top notch manufacturer, those specs are great, and none of it applies to rusty rotors

Different EVs seem to suffer more than others from the rotors rusting from lack of use. I haven't heard much about the issue from Tesla owners - possibly because the brake pedal always engages the friction brakes and there is no regen or blended braking involved.

Most EVs will use regen as much as possible when using the brake pedal, and revert to friction brakes only if more braking than that allows is required.

Rivian is likely to take the blended brake approach and rotor corrosion could be an issue, but we won't really know until owners report after some long term use.

 

[cwoodcox]

I don’t really understand the concern, honestly. Cars have been auto-drying their brakes for years. My 2006 Mercedes would apply the brakes just a tiny bit every few minutes when the wipers were on to ensure they stayed warm and dry. It would be trivial for Rivian to do this with software.

It doesn’t take much to warm up the brakes and remove the rust, and Brembo building the brakes specifically for an EV should be taking all this into account.

 

[Drterreur]

I don’t really understand the concern, honestly. Cars have been auto-drying their brakes for years. My 2006 Mercedes would apply the brakes just a tiny bit every few minutes when the wipers were on to ensure they stayed warm and dry. It would be trivial for Rivian to do this with software.

It doesn’t take much to warm up the brakes and remove the rust, and Brembo building the brakes specifically for an EV should be taking all this into account.

My concern comes from seized brakes twice with a nissan leaf in 6 years and recommandation from Tesla to get brake cleans every year in Québec for that specific problem with evs. I just had mine done yesterday, as they were dragging.

 

[SANZC02]

My concern comes from seized brakes twice with a nissan leaf in 6 years and recommandation from Tesla to get brake cleans every year in Québec for that specific problem with evs. I just had mine done yesterday, as they were dragging.

Seems a bit short sited for Tesla to translate everything but the descriptions for a global company.

But then again would have made it much harder for me to read...

 

[SANZC02]

I can see that being an issue if you don’t use the breaks. I know back in the day when I was in the northeast the parking brakes would freeze up all the time if you did not have the habit of setting it.

I live in a really flat area and ride the big gear on my bike 95% of the time. If I don’t clean and lube the front derailleur all the time it freeze’s up as well from lack of use.

The speed limits are pretty high in SoCal (and much dryer weather) so not a problem around here as I use the brake when stopping so it goes through the motions. Most of the regen happens before the last 100 feet before you stop.

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

In the event when you need to use the brakes in adverse conditions or in an emergency, the Brembo brakes will ensure the vehicle comes to a safe and complete stop. Each Rivian will come with 6 piston brakes in the front and smaller 4 piston brakes in the rear. Given Brembo's reputation in the automotive world for reliability and stopping power, you can be at ease if the brakes aren't used often. Over time, if the brakes do require servicing, our mobile service team will be able to come to your location and make the repair right on the spot. If more involved maintenance is required, we'll pick up The Rivian, take it to a physical service center for you.

I know very little about brake OEMs. Thoughts on Brembo and these specs.?

Brembo is a class-leader in the automotive brake industry. And those specs are top-notch, imo. No other consumer truck is using Brembo brakes as standard. The competition isn’t even coating their calipers.

There are a few manufacturers that offer expensive (think $2,000+) ”big brake” upgrade kits that would be similar to what Rivian is including, stock.

 

[CommodoreAmiga]

My concern comes from seized brakes twice with a nissan leaf in 6 years and recommandation from Tesla to get brake cleans every year in Québec for that specific problem with evs. I just had mine done yesterday, as they were dragging.

It’s a good idea to check the slides/pins and lubricate the brake hardware periodically. I rotate my tires every 5k miles, so I‘ll probably add this to that procedure. I haven’t worked on Rivian brakes (obviously) but based on every other vehicle I’ve worked on, it shouldn’t be much extra effort if you’ve already got the wheels off for a rotation.

 

[Gshenderson]

On my 2015 Tesla, it seems to me that regen is only activated by feathering off of the accelerator pedal, and applying the brake pedal directly controls the friction brakes and has no additional effect on regen. I keep mine in crawl mode, which means I do use the brakes to come to a final complete stop. The only time I have issues with rust on the discs is when the car sits for a long time without being driven. I’ll notice a bit of “grind” the first time I apply the brake after it sits for several days, but after that it’s fine. I’m hopeful that Rivian will have a creep mode as well.

 

[Reed]

Hopefully the Alu body will help with corrosion resistance.

BTW, it still seems like BC's EV charging network is still lacking vs that of WA state. For example, the closest DCFC to Whistler that's of decent charge speed (over 50kw) is going to be an EC charger in Squamish. I guess it''s all theoretical now given that the resort is all on lockdown, and the border is closed.

PetroCan is our best hope for high power chargers. They have chargers up to 350 kW at a string of stations across Canada. I don't know if they are going to keep expanding or leave it at what amounts to a PR statement.

BC Hydro appears to be only installing 50 kW chargers. The good news is that they are putting a large number out there, especially in places where there are no other options or just level 2 chargers.

This is all kind of chicken and egg. Do I buy an electric vehicle without the charging infrastructure. Does someone put in a better charging station without the numbers of electric vehicles to make it pay. Both sides of the equation are improving in BC. I think at some point we'll see the vehicle numbers that will result in competition among electricity providers.

Hey, there could be a jump in demand when I get my Rivian!

 

[Sdvictor]

PetroCan is our best hope for high power chargers. They have chargers up to 350 kW at a string of stations across Canada. I don't know if they are going to keep expanding or leave it at what amounts to a PR statement.

BC Hydro appears to be only installing 50 kW chargers. The good news is that they are putting a large number out there, especially in places where there are no other options or just level 2 chargers.

This is all kind of chicken and egg. Do I buy an electric vehicle without the charging infrastructure. Does someone put in a better charging station without the numbers of electric vehicles to make it pay. Both sides of the equation are improving in BC. I think at some point we'll see the vehicle numbers that will result in competition among electricity providers.

Hey, there could be a jump in demand when I get my Rivian!

You guys need to hurry up! I need a place to charge once the border opens back up. It's crazy that most of western Washington has a strong DCFC infrastructure network either built or in process of being set up. I think Rivian and EA is even installing in relatively far out places like Forks, WA and Mount Baker. My biggest "dead zones" is really on the Canadian side of the border for trips to Whistler and the place east past Chilliwack.

 

[Dark-Fx]

No issues with brake rust on my 53k mile 2018 Bolt in Michigan. I exclusively use L mode, and try to minimize the amount of actual braking I do.

I did decide to grease the caliper guide pins and the ears on the pads this spring for the first time. Only one single pin was in obvious need of it. The pads were a little tight but they haven't moved much since new...

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