Even if you don’t know much about how a car’s brakes work, you’re probably aware that they require fluid to function. Well, at least they did. With the mass adoption of hybrids and electric cars, drivers are using their hydraulic brakes less and less. In fact, according to BMW, drivers of current EVs pretty much never activate their mechanical braking systems, relying instead on their electric motors to handle the job. It’s effective, plus it saves you money on wear parts, because bypassing the hydraulic system means bypassing the pads and rotors too.
The future’s pretty cool, huh? Well, Brembo’s new “Sensify” braking system takes that one step further, eliminating the hydraulic system entirely and relying instead purely on electronic brake-by-wire and electric motors. Brembo is positioning its system as a plug-and-play solution that can be integrated at both the platform level (as part of a dedicated zonal architecture) or as part of an existing ecosystem, perhaps as part of a supplemental ADAS package.
“Designed as a scalable and adaptable solution, Sensify is engineered to support a wide range of advanced vehicle architectures, from next-generation driver assistance systems to fully autonomous applications, marking a key milestone in the evolution of braking toward a truly software-defined future,” Brembo said in its announcement.
The announcement was light on details about both the system itself and how its fail-safes are implemented; we expect we’ll learn more when the first production cars start rolling off an assembly line, likely from whoever ends up building the cars.
“The series production already started for a leading global vehicle manufacturer,” a Brembo spokesperson told The Drive via email. “However, we cannot disclose any details on the customer as the program is subject to confidentiality agreements.”
So, that’s at least one automotive partner for its new brake setup. Brembo’s announcement suggests the company is prepared to handle more. We expect it won’t be too long until we learn details at this rate.
Got a news tip? Let us know at [email protected]!
Read the full article here