VF Commodore Electric handbrake could cause a problem...

This may be stupid, but:

I wonder if any electric car engineers thought of building a dynamo ratched into the handbrake lever? Keep the brake electric, but in the case of flat battery then act of pulling/pushing the lever would generate enough power to trigger whichever relay controls the park brake.

While I can see the benefit of an electric park brake (no time wear and tightening of the cable for example), I'd absolutely hate to think what would happen if you have a relay fault in the park brake causing it to go off while driving :confused:
After all, a relay switch is still susceptible to becoming faulty but at least a mechanical handbrake's default position is "off" rather than either way in the case of a relay.

My car has electric handbrake and a friend was asking me all about it. He said a handbrake is for an emergency stop, does the elec handbrake work if you need it in an emergency whilst driving?

Didn't have a clue and not sure I'm game to try it, does anyone know?

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Originally Posted by csv rulz

Didn't have a clue and not sure I'm game to try it, does anyone know?

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Dunno about others but the one in my Discovery3 would only work if you were travelling less than a couple of km/s an hour.

If you pulled it up whilst travelling at speed it would just beep at you.

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Originally Posted by C4B

Dunno about others but the one in my Discovery3 would only work if you were travelling less than a couple of km/s an hour.

If you pulled it up whilst travelling at speed it would just beep at you.

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That's what I thought. So it effectively means that the handbrake is useless in an emergency situation.

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Originally Posted by csv rulz

That's what I thought. So it effectively means that the handbrake is useless in an emergency situation.

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Just double checked and according to the manual if you held the park brake button up (continually) while travelling at speed it would slowly apply the park brakes (whilst beeping and carrying on like the world was ending presumably). Obviously this wouldn't be as useful as a traditional handbrake if you realized you had no brakes 1/2 second before you ran up the ass of another car, but if you were say on the highway travelling at 110km/h it would allow you to stop in a controlled manner.

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Originally Posted by C4B

Just double checked and according to the manual if you held the park brake button up (continually) while travelling at speed it would slowly apply the park brakes (whilst beeping and carrying on like the world was ending presumably). Obviously this wouldn't be as useful as a traditional handbrake if you realized you had no brakes 1/2 second before you ran up the ass of another car, but if you were say on the highway travelling at 110km/h it would allow you to stop in a controlled manner.

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Thanks for the info, handy to know

Seriously? When is the last time someone push started a car? If the battery is so flat that it won't disengage a piddly handbrake, how do you expect the immobiliser, security system, ECU, PCM, BCM and other electronic modules to run, allowing the car to start? And emergency stops? Tell me the last time your dual redundant circuit hydraulic braking system with ABS and ESP and a swag of safety monitoring failed completely resulting in absolutely no braking ability whatsoever. And you haven't been able to use the handbrake while moving in an automatic commodore since VT, they just go clunk, beep, and you keep moving.

I'm calling fail on this thread. Most of us don't live in the mid 1970s anymore...

I can remember when people used to argue against automatic transmissions because you couldn't slow the car sufficiently if the brakes failed.

Time marches on.....

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Originally Posted by C4B

I can remember when people used to argue against automatic transmissions because you couldn't slow the car sufficiently if the brakes failed.

Time marches on.....

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The handbrake saved me with my old VT a few times. I had it put on gas but they plumbed it wrong. Converter melts freezing and would stall the car at random. Had it stall on me going down a big hill, lost all brakes and steering.

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Originally Posted by csv rulz

The handbrake saved me with my old VT a few times. I had it put on gas but they plumbed it wrong. Converter melts freezing and would stall the car at random. Had it stall on me going down a big hill, lost all brakes and steering.

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Err, no? You lose power assist for brakes and steering. Even the user manual for a commodore says what to do in this situation and it has nothing to do with the handbrake.

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Originally Posted by Big_Valven

Err, no? You lose power assist for brakes and steering. Even the user manual for a commodore says what to do in this situation and it has nothing to do with the handbrake.

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Sorry should have written it better. Didn't loose it completely but steering become almost impossible to turn and brake pedal became rock hard. It was a really step hill. I was able to slow it down a bit with the brakes but had to use the handbrake to come to a stop.
Car didn't have a manual at the time so I wouldn't know what it says to do.

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Originally Posted by macca_779

Yeah cool I figured it would be automatic in one way or another. It's like all cars I've driven with them. You never actually have to touch the button as it knows to apply when you shut it off and disengages when you proceed.

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Confirmed had Park brake locked an accelerated - car seem to stretch while it AUTOMATICALLY Released the park brake!

Way better than my current commodore where I can happily reverse with the park brake applied , but as soon as I go forward it locks up or beeps at you - finally that you forgot the park brake !

I work at volvo. we have had electric park brakes for years and for all the time i have been there, i've never had a vehicle with a flat enough battery that would prevent the epb from deactivating. There are manual overrides for the fatalists Even when i work worked at jaguar before that, same situation.

For what its worth, rear brake changes are a bitch now. Hook up vida, disengage park brake motor, (piston motor winds back), manaully push piston back and then change brakes.

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Originally Posted by Ausmartin1

Confirmed had Park brake locked an accelerated - car seem to stretch while it AUTOMATICALLY Released the park brake!

Way better than my current commodore where I can happily reverse with the park brake applied , but as soon as I go forward it locks up or beeps at you - finally that you forgot the park brake !

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Went to drive off in the wifes captiva a few weeks back, hand brake on.. As I accelerated I felt hesitation for a split second like there was a small tree branch under the wheel, then the brake disengaged and I was off! Was kind of neat to be honest I'm a fan of new technology in cars even the simple things.

Our Renault Kiosks is the same. The moment you hit the accelerator it disengages, once you come to a stop and switch the car off it engages again