Is there an "Extra" Parking Brake Step or Not? Weird.....

[TT97]

So I went to the car and tried engaging and disengaging several times (opened the window to hear better, turned off the A/C and easy entry). When putting in park, you can definitely hear the whirring of the motors on each brake caliper squeeze the pads into the disc (which takes close to a second). When you press (and hold) the parking brake again, it make a clicking sound but couldn't identify it.

On the center screen, pressing the parking brake button on the "Safety and Security" screen will act the same way as putting the car in park (the manual states pressing the button again will put the car in neutral but I was unable to duplicate that). I could not find anyway to perform the second step using the center screen.

As far as the hydraulic system comment from Model S - hydraulic systems can lift boats, I'm sure it can hold a 4000 lb car on an incline.

 

[yblaser]

The manual also says when you push the park button a second time it unlocks all the doors. Are you sure you are not hearing the door unlock solenoid?

 

[Msjulie]

I bet folks hearing more sound pressing park when the car is already in park just hear a redundant sound of the electric motor (on the calipers) confirming they are engaged in 'park' mode

Sounds reasonably anyway!

 

[nvx1977]

I had to hold the park button to get the "super parking brake" to turn on. And there is a very distinct click that sounds very different than the typical whir.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

No, don't bring the S into it, it'll just further confuse things. Esp because until early 2017, Model S had TWO rear calipers on each rotor, with one definitely being a separate parking brake. The Mechanical in that quote is likely referring to the separate parking brake, which isn't even in current Model S that use the mainbrake as the parking brake....

Actually, I think the second rear caliper disappeared at the end of 2016 when AP2 hardware was added. My car from December 2016 only has one.

 

[Eddyrelik]

I had to hold the park button to get the "super parking brake" to turn on. And there is a very distinct click that sounds very different than the typical whir.

Hahahaha. I like that..."Super Parking Brake". I can't believe there isn't a solid answer to this yet. I'm glad many have actually tried it and agree there may be something "extra" going on based on the park light and sound.....whether or not this is actually doing something extra is the question.....

 

[SpudLime]

yep, ive been doing it for the past couple of days. click once to go into park. hear sound and feel something on the pedal. then i hold the button, see the parking light go on and feel/hear something else happen on the pedal.

 

[NathanielHrnblwr]

Someone put the car up on a lift just enough to get the wheels off the ground. Tap once to put it in Park. Have someone see which wheels spin, if any. If some spin, then hold the button in. Do those same wheels spin?

Perhaps putting it in park locks rears and the hold locks all 4? Seems logical to me as an emergency braking event would use all available brakes and parking can suffice with two.

On my ancient cars, the parking brake is a cable to the rear wheel calipers.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

The S manual, on page 60 says that the park light comes on if you manually put it into park using the touchscreen.
Is there normally any difference between turning it on via the button or touchscreen?
If there is a difference, it could imply that a long press is equivalent to the touchscreen, while a short press is equivalent to the automatic process.

(Whether it physically does anything different, somebody would have to check.)

 

[North75]

I asked Ingineerix on Youtube what the extra parking brake step did. He answered with the following:

"There are electric motors on each of the rear brake calipers that can mechanically apply the rear brakes when you engage P. If it's already applied, the second push-hold just tries to tighten it, but nothing will happen except a small noise."

So it sounds like its not really doing anything additional.

 

[Runt8]

I asked Ingineerix on Youtube what the extra parking brake step did. He answered with the following:

"There are electric motors on each of the rear brake calipers that can mechanically apply the rear brakes when you engage P. If it's already applied, the second push-hold just tries to tighten it, but nothing will happen except a small noise."

So it sounds like its not really doing anything additional.

I believe this, although I wonder why the light on the screen only turns on after the push-hold.

 

[SpudLime]

I believe this, although I wonder why the light on the screen only turns on after the push-hold.

+1

 

[WileyTheMan]

I believe this, although I wonder why the light on the screen only turns on after the push-hold.

Assurance to the driver that the brake is engaged?

 

[Runt8]

Assurance to the driver that the brake is engaged?

I suppose, but I would argue that it would serve that purpose better if it turned on after the first press.

 

[TT97]

I believe this, although I wonder why the light on the screen only turns on after the push-hold.

Ask Dr. Pavlov.

 

[KD4MNI]

I believe the "long-press Park" state automatically unlocks all the doors for convenience (as a couple of others have suggested).
The redundant "Park" indications are admittedly confusing ...
With their electric motors and direct-gear drivetrains, Tesla cars are more like traditional cars with manual transmissions in low gear when they are parked. An Emergency Brake is also a Parking Brake for these vehicles.
In traditional vehicles with automatic transmissions, a "Park" condition involves engaging locking teeth to prevent rotation of the drivetrain (that's what makes the awful noise if you try to shift into Park while you're still moving). The driveshaft is locked in "Park", but the individual wheels can still rotate. If a rear-wheel drive car is in "Park" and is jacked up off the ground, you can turn one rear wheel and the other rear wheel will turn in the opposite direction due to the rear differential. A car in "Park" doesn't roll since both rear wheels are on the ground.
Emergency Brakes typically consist of a redundant system to activate both of the rear wheel brakes of a vehicle. They function to slow and stop the vehicle in case the primary brake system fails. It is also a safe practice to set the Emergency Brake when parking a vehicle, in case the "Park" transmission lock fails.

 

[Snow Drift]

I don't see anywhere in the OM that it states a function for holding the P stalk button. The only stated way to manually engage is via the screen. So perhaps this is just another way in case your screen died?

I asked Ingineerix on Youtube what the extra parking brake step did. He answered with the following:

"There are electric motors on each of the rear brake calipers that can mechanically apply the rear brakes when you engage P. If it's already applied, the second push-hold just tries to tighten it, but nothing will happen except a small noise."

So it sounds like its not really doing anything additional.

I believe this as I have never done the long press...but...when in normal Park (no light, just a big P), if you engage Transport Mode there is a LOUD clunk of the parking brake disengaging from the rear. It's startling.

 

[KD4MNI]

I believe the "long-press Park" state automatically unlocks all the doors for convenience (as a couple of others have suggested).
The redundant "Park" indications are admittedly confusing ...
With their electric motors and direct-gear drivetrains, Tesla cars are more like traditional cars with manual transmissions in low gear when they are parked. An Emergency Brake is also a Parking Brake for these vehicles.
In traditional vehicles with automatic transmissions, a "Park" condition involves engaging locking teeth to prevent rotation of the drivetrain (that's what makes the awful noise if you try to shift into Park while you're still moving). The driveshaft is locked in "Park", but the individual wheels can still rotate. If a rear-wheel drive car is in "Park" and is jacked up off the ground, you can turn one rear wheel and the other rear wheel will turn in the opposite direction due to the rear differential. A car in "Park" doesn't roll since both rear wheels are on the ground.
Emergency Brakes typically consist of a redundant system to activate both of the rear wheel brakes of a vehicle. They function to slow and stop the vehicle in case the primary brake system fails. It is also a safe practice to set the Emergency Brake when parking a vehicle, in case the "Park" transmission lock fails.

So ... I experimented a little with my new Model 3 (v2018.42.4) and it's very clear that the first push of the button on the end of the gear selector/shifter stalk selects Park gear ("P"), engaging the rear brake caliper pads as a parking brake. A second "long push" of the stalk button causes a distinct additional brake action that sounds like the rear brake caliper pads are "tightening" even further for the securest possible parking, and the International "Parking Brake" icon/symbol appears on the display in addition to the large "P" (the car remains in Park).

From the Model 3 Owner's Manual:
"Shift Model 3 into Park by pressing the button on the end of the gear selector. The parking brake automatically engages ..."
"You can also unlock the doors by pressing the Park button on the end of the gear selector a second time. Pressing this button once
engages the Park gear and pressing it again unlocks the doors." (This is not necessary if you have "Unlock on Park" mode enabled)
"Parking brake - Electrically-actuated sliding parking brake integrated into rear caliper"
"Push the shift lever up or down to the first position and hold it there for more than 1 second to shift into Neutral gear, which allows Model 3 to roll freely when you are not pressing the brake pedal."

The key insight is that the Tesla Model 3 does not have a traditional Parking Brake/Emergency Brake (hand brake or foot brake). The car's anti-lock brake system has redundant hydraulic circuits (like aircraft) and is designed to be ultra-reliable (necessary for Autopilot, self-driving, etc). In the highly-unlikely event of a failure of the redundant hydraulic brake system, the driver could (in theory) perform a "long press" of the gear selector button to activate the Parking Brake/Emergency Brake and stop the car (I haven't tested this and it's not explicitly described in the manual, but it's logical). There's also a touchscreen menu where the Parking Brake can be enabled.

The Model 3 Owner's Manual refers to Park as a single condition/state. Manually applying the Parking Brake is considered a separate state, where the rear brake caliper pads are clamped down (tighter than in the standard "Park" state). Since the Tesla Model 3 has no manual hand or foot brake, this corresponds to manually setting the Parking Brake/Emergency Brake on a traditional vehicle.

In summary:
P = Park (drive motor(s) off with rear parking brake applied enough to prevent vehicle from rolling)
((P)) = Parking Brake applied (rear parking brake fully applied when red, system failure when orange, off when not displayed)
Best to place car in Park and then apply Parking Brake when car is parked on an incline

 

[Silicon Desert]

The only problem with stopping this way is when you drive your other car, you will come to a stop, open the door, get out and the car will slowly roll away. Happened to me several times when I forgot I wasn't in my Tesla.

Right, and one of the reasons I never just hop out of the car without first pressing the brake button. But I guess there is always more than one reason to everything A guy in the bay area bought himself a new garage wall and fixed damage to his front end after hopping out of his car like that and said his foot slipped and hit the accelerator while he was stepping out. So, I wonder just how lazy have people become to not press that column button to put it in park? The index finger must hurt awfully bad to not do that

 

[Msjulie]

"super parking brake" to turn on

Hmm I've never had this happen with my 3 and as someone who has replaced the rear rotors and had to disable the automatic parking brake, I do not believe there is a 'super parking brake'. Whenever I put my car in P, I hear the electric rear brakes engage. They can be disabled in service mode and you can hear and see (if parts removed) the calipers lock/unlock in back.

Maybe something else happens but I've seen no evidence of that so I wonder what the real use of pressing the brake is when the rear is already locked in place (and believe me they are tight when they engage). Maybe that button will re-engage the brakes if you have turned them off from service mode? Maybe it is just to try to enforce a learned behavior

If there really is a super parking brake, a link to it would be cool. Maybe my car doesn't have one

open the door, get out and the car will slowly roll away

My car all kinds of hollers if in D or R and a passenger door opens.. I can't imagine how I could get out in D and wonder off without the assault of alarms but (have to re-confirm) I think if I open the driver's door, it puts itself in P right off. As I recall, it was annoying for opening the door for some visibility reason and needing to back up...