Electric parking brake switch

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Websterize

Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2014
Messages
11
Location
Maryland, USA
Is there a reason the electric parking brake switch shown below

Screen%20Shot%202014-08-05%20at%2012.09.08%20PM.png


was omitted in the 2014 model? (Has it been in any U.S.-spec 2011-2015 models?) The image is from page 6 of Nissan's First Responder Guide at http://www.nissan-techinfo.com/refgh0v/og/FRG/2011-Nissan-LEAF-FRG.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

The parking brake in the footwell of my 2014 is just so, well, unfuturistic.
 
AFAIK, no vehicle in the world has an electric parking brake. This is just ultimately doomed to fail.
The "Park" on most cars is not a brake, but a pin. Similar goals, but extremely different implementations. Park is usually accomplished by a pin, or other interlocking mechanism to prevent any movement, and will cause major damage if applied at a high speed. A brake is friction based, and can be applied at any speed without causing damage.

That said, I've never seen the referenced device. With the steering wheel on the left, it definitely looks like a US spec car. I've been in a '12, '13, and I own a '14, and none of them have anything there.
 
My father-in-law's Subaru Legacy station wagon just had to have it's entire electronic parking brake system replaced. In a case like this, I'll take the basic no-frills reliability of a manual pedal or handle over something being electronic for the sake of being advanced.
 
DarkStar said:
I can confirm this was on all 2011 models.
And the 2012s. The electric parking brake was replaced by the mechanical one in the USA-built 2013 LEAFs, along with other changes, such as steel doors versus the aluminum ones in the Japan built 2011/2012 LEAFs.

My guess is that the parking brake change was made to reduce costs, but who knows?
 
Iirc, the change to a conventional parking brake was made in 2013 models. My 2012 has the electric version. I kind of like it in that it intrudes less into the passenger space than a normal handbrake and it makes a nifty whirring sound :). Also my wife sometimes has problems with applying enough force for a conventional handbrake. So one nice aspect is consistent application pressure.

On the other hand, it is not as utilitarian; you can't do a handbrake turn, for example ;) And a parking brake on the floor is hopelessly dull. But does probably have the advantage of being cheaper and more reliable.
 
mctom987 said:
AFAIK, no vehicle in the world has an electric parking brake. ...
The Volt also has a switch activated electric parking brake.

I think the speculation that the US 2013 LEAF changed to foot activated parking brake was cost driven is correct.
If all your other Nissan vehicles are using a foot activated parking brake, then it has to be probably 1/3 the cost of the electric parking brake.

Opinions on the electric parking brake were mixed at best though.
For my wife and I it is one of the favorite things about the vehicle.
Nissan dropping it in 2013 is one of the two things that drove our decision to not trade in 2011 for a 2013 SL.
(Other thing was leather only in black.)
Some people just mistrusted electric parking brake that it might not work in an emergency. It has a very large capacitor in back of vehicle also shown in emergency responder instructions.
In an emergency pulling on the electric brake switch will continuously apply it, although I haven't tested it.

Some thought use of foot in an emergency was better than one hand off the wheel to apply emergency / parking brake.
Seems OK to me.
But possible Nissan attornies might have also influenced elimination of the electric parking brake.

I would like to see Nissan bring it back but that is unlikely.
May take a doubling of battery capacity to get me to trade in the 2011 without it though :(
 
I prefer the manual foot-activated parking brake.

If it works just fine, why overcomplicate it with no benefit? Just more things to go wrong.
 
If you look back to the posts from 2011, you'll find that most people thought the electric mechanism was overly complicated and bound to fail. Well, in this sample of 1, I've used it every time I move the car, and there have been no issues.

The consensus back then was that the LEAF got to market before they had worked out how to put in a conventional parking brake system. There's no floor tunnel, and there's a battery sitting in the way of actuator cables. So this system was rather hurriedly "glued on" as an afterthought to make things work. From that viewpoint, what they did subsequently was to work out a way to have the cheaper, simpler, conventional parking brake mechanism.

It is not, by the way, the parking pawl mechanism. It is the parking brake. mctom987 probably has never seen this item. BTW, I recently learned that the EV-1 had electric service brakes. I think I want to verify that one with a former owner.

It is somewhat futuristic. And, while you notionally can't do handbrake turns, it's not impossible. Search on "LEAF J-turn" and enjoy the video :)
 
Nubo said:
On the other hand, it is not as utilitarian; you can't do a handbrake turn, for example ;)
...and here's the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cU3K-hqjD1A" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cU3K-hqjD1A[/youtube]
 
The 2011 and 2012 had both. The standard parking pawl on the gear box for the front wheels, and an electric parking brake on the rear wheels. In 2013 the electric parking brake was replaced with one that was mechanically operated.

I much prefer the electric one and suspect the change was done to cut costs...

mctom987 said:
AFAIK, no vehicle in the world has an electric parking brake. This is just ultimately doomed to fail.
 
Yep, I've never heard of any problems with it either but, ironically, there have been some with the replacement mechanical version...

gbarry42 said:
If you look back to the posts from 2011, you'll find that most people thought the electric mechanism was overly complicated and bound to fail. Well, in this sample of 1, I've used it every time I move the car, and there have been no issues.
 
For the most part, I love the look and feel of the Leaf, so the mechanical foot brake is kinda anathema to the whole high-tech shtick that Nissan markets. The brown shoes with a tuxedo quote comes to mind. :D

I’m also alarmed by the idea of what that anachronistic lever in the footwell (or anything down there, really) would do to my left leg in a 40-mph, small overlap front collision. This is a distressing photo by IIHS:

lE2b4vzx


http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/vehicle/v/nissan/leaf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
Fascinating details on how IIHS conducts its frontal crash tests and why the Leaf faired so poorly in one of them:

Small overlap frontal crashes primarily affect a vehicle's outer edges, which aren't well protected by the crush-zone structures. Crash forces go directly into the front wheel, suspension system and firewall. It is not uncommon for the wheel to be forced rearward into the footwell, contributing to even more intrusion in the occupant compartment and resulting in serious leg and foot injuries. To provide effective protection in small overlap crashes, the safety cage needs to resist crash forces that aren't tempered by crush-zone structures. Widening these front-end structures also would help.

One would hope this new rating, and CR's response, will spark a resolution from Nissan headquarters.

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/ratings-info/frontal-crash-tests" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
TomT said:
The 2011 and 2012 had both. The standard parking pawl on the gear box for the front wheels, and an electric parking brake on the rear wheels. In 2013 the electric parking brake was replaced with one that was mechanically operated.

I much prefer the electric one and suspect the change was done to cut costs...

mctom987 said:
AFAIK, no vehicle in the world has an electric parking brake. This is just ultimately doomed to fail.
Are you sure it's not an electrically engaged mechanical brake? An electrical brake is dangerous, as no power = no brakes. I'm asking because there is a significant difference, and ambiguous references are only causing confusion.

I'm pretty sure the '11/'12 Leaf has a mechanical parking brake. It just had a "lazy" feature that engaged it electronically.
 
It is an electrically operated, via motor and cable, mechanical brake on the rear wheels. There is a super capacitor that provides power to operate it for a number of cycles in the event of a total electrical failure. There is also a mechanical override to release it in the event that everything else fails. Much more elegant than the pedal system they replaced it with, but certainly more expensive...


mctom987 said:
Are you sure it's not an electrically engaged mechanical brake? An electrical brake is dangerous, as no power = no brakes.
 
TomT said:
... There is also a mechanical override to release it in the event that everything else fails. Much more elegant than the pedal system they replaced it with, but certainly more expensive...
Where is the mechanical override?
 
DarkStar said:
Nubo said:
On the other hand, it is not as utilitarian; you can't do a handbrake turn, for example ;)
...and here's the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cU3K-hqjD1A" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cU3K-hqjD1A[/youtube]

Bravo! I stand corrected! :D
 
TimLee said:
Where is the mechanical override?
The electric parking brake override is in the floor of the trunk. If used, the manual says that it will need to be taken to a dealer to be reset. The override is to allow release of the parking brake in the event of an electric systems failure or something similar (the brake switch on the console stops functioning).

It is interesting that after several years of use in the 2011/2012 LEAFs I can't recall a single report here at MNL of the electric parking brake failing or needing service. That was my main reservation: another electric gadget to break. Turns out that it is very reliable and easy to use.
 
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