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I don't think anything is brake by wire, even that Lexus has a failsafe mode that ultimately is a direct physical connection. No saving parts there yet.



I was thinking of the regenerative and used the wrong words.


One-pedal mode exists on many EVs, wherein: A person can drive around (and come to a complete stop) without ever touching the brake pedal.

If that isn't brake by wire, then what is?


My car has one pedal mode. It also has a regular brake pedal that will behave like a regular hydraulic brake, because it is.


Like the other commentor said, the brake is still connected to the brake pedal and the car mechanically assists for one-pedal mode. You can always still use the brake pedal even with any automation or assistance off.


that's assisted brakes.

<thing>-by-wire means there is a control with no physical connection to <thing>.

for example, older tesla cars can steer themselves, but the steering wheel still connects to the front wheels mechanically.

The newer cybertruck has a steer-by-wire. The wheels are turned side to side by motors, but the steering wheel is not mechanically hooked to it, it's just an electronic controller.


It sounds more like brake-by-wire alongside a regular brake pedal.


The one-pedal though is only a mechanical assistance to the existing connection between the brake pedal and the brake. Maybe we're splitting hairs, but its more akin to power steering.


With [traditional] power-assisted steering, there is always a direct mechanical connection between the wheel and the steering box/rack. It's assisted, usually hydraulically, but it is not isolated by a wire; that direct mechanical connection is always there.

With [traditional] power-assisted brakes, there is always a direct connection between the pedal doing the braking and the wheel cylinders. It's assisted (usually, but not always, by vacuum), but that direct mechanical connection is always there.

With one-pedal driving that only uses exactly one pedal, there is never a direct mechanical connection between that singular pedal and the braking system. That connection is only electrical; there is no direct mechanical (or hydraulic, to split hairs) connection at all. It is entirely brake-by-wire, unless one chooses to place a foot on the brake pedal and thereby do something other than one-pedal driving.

Thus: Unless there's hydraulics connected to the accelerator pedal, then: As long as mechanical braking (pads-on-rotors friction) can be performed in one-pedal mode (and it can be), then one-pedal mode must perform braking-by-wire.

We're already there, I think; people use brake-by-wire every day. (That we also have a functional hydraulic brake pedal as a backup does not mean that brake-by-wire is not a thing that one-pedal-mode provides.)

(If that sounds aggressive, then I apologize. I'm still recovering from a vacation with a 30-hour drive, and I may be up too late, and may also be drinking a bit much tonight.)




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