Anybody worn out their brake pads?

[mspohr]

Because of regenerative braking, the brake pads get little wear. I was wondering if anybody has worn out their brake pads?
(I'm not talking about compulsive people who have replaced them "just in case" or replaced the pads because they didn't like the OEM pads, etc.)
Has anyone actually worn out a set of brake pads?

 

[Electricfan]

On a Model S? Or a Roadster?

I wouldn't think even if the Model S had no regen brakes that anybody would have worn them out yet, as young as the car is. But in 2017 I will be very interested to know if any of the 2012 owners has worn them out. I'm not a mechanic, so I could be quite wrong (often am).

I have a 2011 Volt and the brake pads on it look like new. I've got about 56k miles on it, and have driven it for four years.

 

[jerry33]

Of course, I'm nowhere near wearing out the pads on the Model S, but on the 2004 Prius there are 160K miles on the pads and no replacement--and the Prius uses the friction brakes far more than the Model S due to having regen on the brake pedal (there is always a small amount, at least, of friction braking when regen is on the brake pedal).

 

[mspohr]

Of course, I'm nowhere near wearing out the pads on the Model S, but on the 2004 Prius there are 160K miles on the pads and no replacement--and the Prius uses the friction brakes far more than the Model S due to having regen on the brake pedal (there is always a small amount, at least, of friction braking when regen is on the brake pedal).

160K on the original pads on the Prius is impressive!

 

[InternetDude]

160K on the original pads on the Prius is impressive!

Not really, that's common.

 

[sorka]

160K on the original pads on the Prius is impressive!

200k miles on my 2009 Prius and original pads have about 80% left. Unless you brake hard the pads are only used below 7 mph. Some are at 300k + and pads still have 70+% left.

 

[mspohr]

200k miles on my 2009 Prius and original pads have about 80% left. Unless you brake hard the pads are only used below 7 mph. Some are at 300k + and pads still have 70+% left.

I guess we can expect the same from the tesla.

 

[sorka]

I guess we can expect the same from the tesla.

Just depends on how you drive. I haven't really had to us the MS breaks below 3 mph yet. I'm sure it will happen at some point where I have to brake hard for something. If you're the type that regen brakes all the way up to the stop and then engage the calipers to stop that last little roll, I imagine the brakes pads would last millions of miles. If however, you brake moderate to hard all the time coming up to stops then I could see them needing replaced in not much longer than a typical ICE especially if you have creep turned on.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Well, I managed to destroy the back tires by 17,000 miles... What's that count for?

 

[sorka]

If you had 21" summer tires, then you were driving like a grandma

 

[bhzmark]

the Prius uses the friction brakes far more than the Model S due to having regen on the brake pedal (there is always a small amount, at least, of friction braking when regen is on the brake pedal).

Source? Priuschat folks seem to think Prius brakes rust because they are never used until hard braking. They seem to only use regen braking on mild brake pedal application. With easy driving of a Prius you can never have to use brake pads. Including coming to a complete stop-- unlike Tesla.

 

[sorka]

Of course, I'm nowhere near wearing out the pads on the Model S, but on the 2004 Prius there are 160K miles on the pads and no replacement--and the Prius uses the friction brakes far more than the Model S due to having regen on the brake pedal (there is always a small amount, at least, of friction braking when regen is on the brake pedal).

Um no. Totally false. Under moderate braking the Prius, at least the 2nd gen Prius, won't touch the calipers until speed drops below 7 mph.

 

[jerry33]

Source? Priuschat folks seem to think Prius brakes rust because they are never used until hard braking. They seem to only use regen braking on mild brake pedal application. With easy driving of a Prius you can never have to use brake pads. Including coming to a complete stop-- unlike Tesla.

Source is a graph in the 2004 New Car Features manual

Note that there is almost always some friction braking.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Source is a graph in the 2004 New Car Features manualView attachment 80716
Note that there is almost always some friction braking.

Notice that at the bottom of the graph, exceot at the end, there's regen. The question is how much braking force it takes to get into the hydraulic zone. In my 2010 it's significant enough that it's either braking on a significant downgrade or a 50mph stoplight that doesn't give you enough time.

 

[yobigd20]

70k miles and I was just in for tire rotation and they said brake pads were pretty much still brand new looking lol probably wont need to change them till over 200k-300k miles at least

 

[rdrcrmatt]

I'm hard on my brakes, with (almost) 60,000 miles on my Model S, I estimate my brake pads are still in the 80% range.

 

[Riprazor]

It raises a rather interesting question. I suspect most of us sell, scrap or get rid of our ICE vehicles when the engine ultimately is no longer worth servicing or we just want something new. What is going to be the point of failure in a Model S that would cause an owner to purchase a new vehicle assuming the car is never in an accident? Battery packs will likely improve and come down in price, the motors are all replaceable for what I suspect would be a reasonable price. Brakes will essentially last for hundreds of thousands of miles? What is the failure point for the vehicle in 10 to 20 years other than the desire to get something newer and better?

 

[Alysashley79]

47,000 miles here and had my rotors replaced two weeks ago due to excessive rust AND they said that between 29,000 miles when I had 95% of my pads left and two weeks both my pads were down to 40% left. So they were replaced as well. The SC said they think there was a defect in the system that caused premature wear.

 

[Cyclone]

It raises a rather interesting question. I suspect most of us sell, scrap or get rid of our ICE vehicles when the engine ultimately is no longer worth servicing or we just want something new. What is going to be the point of failure in a Model S that would cause an owner to purchase a new vehicle assuming the car is never in an accident? Battery packs will likely improve and come down in price, the motors are all replaceable for what I suspect would be a reasonable price. Brakes will essentially last for hundreds of thousands of miles? What is the failure point for the vehicle in 10 to 20 years other than the desire to get something newer and better?

1. Features (think of just how many are trading up to Autopilot and/or AWD)
2. Car accident
3. Performance (70D -> 85D, 85/85D -> P85/P85D)
4. Body refresh (not for a long time)
5. New Model (X)

It is quite likely that absent #2, you will have personal desires for a different car before the Model S is ready to be scrapped.

- - - Updated - - -

47,000 miles here and had my rotors replaced two weeks ago due to excessive rust AND they said that between 29,000 miles when I had 95% of my pads left and two weeks both my pads were down to 40% left. So they were replaced as well. The SC said they think there was a defect in the system that caused premature wear.

Was this done as part of the "annual service", under warranty, or a separate cost?

 

[evp]

I'm betting on displays being the terminal point of failure. They're in a relatively high-vibration environment and could have mechanically-induced failures. Some of the components will quickly become obsolete (especially processors), and Tesla might not be able to build one-for-one replacements. Will they commit to re-engineering the display hardware for old cars? More to the point, will they commit to porting the software?