Martin Kahl reflects on the key topics discussed at EuroBrake 2024
There’s so much more to stopping than brakes—and there’s so much more to brakes than stopping. It’s an age-old adage, but it perfectly encapsulates EuroBrake. Indeed, we could go one further: there’s so much more to EuroBrake than…braking.
Where once brake system engineers focused on noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH)—developing high-tech solutions taken almost entirely for granted by drivers who just wanted to know their brakes worked perfectly, every time—they now face a raft of previously unexpected challenges. New non-exhaust emissions regulations, the transition to electrification and the implications of regenerative braking, the ongoing quest for brake-by-wire in passenger cars, and the potential for artificial intelligence and big data in brake systems engineering…just some of the issues facing automakers and brake system suppliers in a business environment already under pressure from a growing number of geopolitical tensions.
Automakers, suppliers, and all other vehicle dynamics and control stakeholders continue to navigate their way through the requirements for Euro 7, which sets requirements for measuring, monitoring, and reducing particle matter emissions from brake pad wear. Europe is the first region to adopt GTR24—known formally as the Global Technical Regulation on the Laboratory Measurement of Brake Emissions for Light-Duty Vehicles. The EU’s response, Euro 7, will come into effect in a staged introduction from November 2026. Unlike Euro 6 and its previous iterations, Euro 7 addresses not just exhaust emissions, but also non-exhaust emissions from tyres and brakes.
There’s so much more to stopping than brakes—and there’s so much more to brakes than stopping. Indeed, we could go one further: there’s so much more to EuroBrake than…braking
The automakers openly admit that the development of efficient Euro 7 compliant brake systems is an overwhelming challenge, but they remain confident they will be ready.
For the suppliers, an overwhelming challenge is a golden opportunity, and EuroBrake was abuzz with innovation at every stage of the value chain, from raw materials through to end products, as well as the highly complex measuring equipment necessary for measuring traffic-related micro particles.
Solutions vary, from switching to friction materials that produce fewer particulates, to applying coatings or using laser cladding to reduce particulates from existing materials, filtering and capturing brake particles, developing algorithms that minimise braking wear in the first place, and accelerating the adoption of regenerative braking.
Regen braking—referred to by one speaker as perhaps the OEMs’ most powerful weapon in their portfolio of solutions for meeting Euro 7—relies entirely on the transition to electrification. However, the current speed of battery electric vehicle adoption means we won’t see widespread adoption of regen braking any time soon—much to the disappointment of the automaker braking specialists. One noted that if the OEMs could use regen braking for the complete process of deceleration, they would no longer need friction brakes and could significantly downsize the brake system—with obvious financial and weight advantages—while also avoiding the need for costly Euro 7 compliance processes.
The automakers openly admit that the development of efficient Euro 7 compliant brake systems is an overwhelming challenge, but they remain confident they will be ready. For the suppliers, an overwhelming challenge is a golden opportunity
Discussions about advances in braking technology inevitably turn to brake-by-wire—the electronic transmission of braking commands between the pedal and the physical brake. For decades it’s been a mass market passenger car technology that’s just over the horizon, but it’s been in mainstream use in trucking for almost 30 years, and has evolved in line with advances in computing power and pneumatic brake system technology. However, introducing true brake-by-wire technology into mainstream passenger cars is a technical challenge that would require a product offering that is better and cheaper than the current offering—and the sense was that this lies…just over the horizon.