I went for a test drive in a 2017 CR-V and asked the salesman about the electronic parking brake. My question was about an emergency where I would normally pull a lever or push a pedal to activate an emergency brake. His answer: set the electronic parking brake. Is this correct?

 

More or less, yes.

It's 2017, not 1957. There really should be no emergency where you would need to make use of the parking brake while the vehicle is in motion. Just stand on the brake pedal and let the car figure out how to do the best it can do.

But, if there actually is such an emergency, such as complete hydraulic brake failure (which is nearly impossible with modern systems), go ahead and use it, just know that most of them are not nearly as effective at stopping the vehicle since they are literally only parking brakes now.

 

Yes. You would use the electronic park brake (EPB) during an emergency.

 

The million dollar question is what kind of an emergency requires you to need to use an electronic emergency brake on an automatic car? I really need to hear this one.

 

Hydraulic brake system failure.

Its more like a one dollar question....

 

noted, but extremely unlikely with a dual master cylinder. More like for those stupid enough who drive with bad brakes until all 4 don't work. O.k. thanks for that one.

 

Just FYI, the electronic parking brake will not operate right away when you pull on it. There is some electronic safeguard against it.

I remember from the user manual that you need to pull on the button for a few seconds before it activates while in motion.

 

I have driven a few rental cars which had the electronic parking brake. All were activated by a toggle on the console. This seems to be one more move toward a totally electric car which can be controlled by the ECU, like the electric throttle, electric steering, electric brakes, etc. which means that a human driver is unnecessary.

 

Well...less necessary parts is a practical reason.

You don't need cables, a lever with a release button, a boot, and a ratcheting mechanism. A traditional parking brake is quite an expensive set of parts...and like 2% of the population ever uses it.

It also opens up space in the dash.

The future isn't as bleak as you imagine it

 

??? cars have always been full of redundancy. You're just now picking up on this?

Example:
You have like 800 bulbs in the tail light. Why? Because it would be stupid to build a car that becomes invisible after 1 light bulb blows out.

Cars, for as long as anyone should be able to remember, have also always come with emergency brakes for any transmission option. What factory built car have you seen that comes sans emergency/parking brake??

It has always been there in case of brake failure. Probably because its a scenario that is unlikely...but will have serious consequences if it occurs.

Why would an emergency/parking brake become pointless on an auto trans car because it is electronically activated?? It still serves the same purpose as one with a lever:

Parking on hills. And emergencies.

Your point of "unless you're stupid enough to drive with bad brakes until total failure" is exactly the reason for an emergency brake. Its not a "million dollar question".

 

people never use e-brakes on an automatic car unless they think they need to. But they dont. A 10 year old car here in the rust belt on an automatic car is a joke. You use it, and you will be towing it to get it fixed.

Here is a redundancy for you. Your car dies, and looses power. brakes fail. Push emergency brake button. What happens?

Here is another one. Your driving down the road at 70mph in you rust bucket piece of crap 15 year old automatic car. Brakes fail, hit the e brake to stop, only it doesnt stop because it is just an e brake. It slows down a little, and you plow into everything stopping the car. Thats your e brake. The car in front of you. Ooh wait... The e brake didnt work anyways because its an old rusty bucket, and the e brake has never been used before, so everything fell apart.

O.k. o.k. another one. Old man driving a 1947 cadillac with a single res master cylinder. Master goes bad, brakes fail. He hits the e brake, and it doesnt stop the car because it weighs 6500 pounds and he is only using his rear brakes with a lever on one shoe and a cable.

Here is a real one. Automatic truck is loading a car onto a trailer. He hits the e brake for loading so it doesnt brake his parking pawl.

I mean really... Have you ever gone down the road at say 50mph, and hit your e brake at full force to try to stop a car?

Fail.

Its made for parking bro.

 

Its obviously not going to help to explain that SOME redundancy is better than none. And that the emergency/parking brake does work to stop the car (albeit not as well as the main brakes).

It is a mandated item. An EPB is a more efficient design than a lever operated part.

In either case...I always use the parking brake on automatic cars. Its not advisable to use just the parking pawl. Especially on a hill.