Electronic handbrake

Yes, really.

'a Range Rover epb failed',

I'd have thought 100 years of more conventual type hand brakes would have taught us how to use them. And in general driving, just how often do you need to use it? ....  🤷‍♂️

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When you stop.

Seriously though, I've had cars with EPB, and find them simple to use. It comes on automatically at junctions, and stops the car from rolling backwards. Brilliant. I then went back to a conventional handbrake, and hate it. I'm always forgetting to pull it on and now have bruised ribs from being prodded by my wife.

Got a new car coming in the spring, and can't wait

In my ML I have a foot brake. I have a rarely used EPB that is applied when I apply it (generally) & I have Park. When I stop at lights etc I either just keep my foot on the brake pedal or give it another shove to enable 'HOLD'. HOLD will stay on for ever & a day until I shove the brake again or press the throttle.  I left foot brake so if faced with a hill I have a foot for each pedal. I don't want or need an EPB to engage each time I stop at a junction or traffic lights.

My other cars have a conventional handbrake. But still only 2 pedals.

The fault then is you forgetting to use the conventional handbrake  ..... a bit like an auto driver forgetting to dip a clutch or change gear. Not a fault of the vehicle. 😉

I find my EPB simple to use ... push the switch for ON & pull to release. But I don't roll back, even on a hill because I have a foot for each pedal .... Even if you don't routinely left foot brake, there's nothing to stop you from using your left foot to hold the vehicle when on a hill & use your right for the throttle. Do you seriously apply the handbrake each time you stop? Was I taught to do that 40-odd years ago? I can't remember, but don't think so. 🤔

I have seen several EPB equipped cars with the system jammed on. Not sure why, possibly a maintenance issue.

I'd gone to the main dealers & saw something like this being loaded up back onto a HGV after it'd just unloaded the recovered car. The recovery bloke said that failure of EPB was a fairly common fault on cars in general & when the car is on a multi-storey car park they can be a nightmare to collect. So they use a robot like this! A few quid's worth I would think.

 

 

On the Land Rover Discovery and similar series the Electric Parking Brake operates on the rear wheels on a combination disc and drum. If the driving brakes have been used a lot preceding park brake application that combination will have expanded, and as it cools, contract onto the parking shoes. 

Perhaps for this very reason Land Rover provide an emergency manual release which is hidden away in the centre console even more than it is hidden in the handbook.  It involves pulling heftily on a wire cable.

Where manual parking brakes (usually) involve a straight pull on a cable with a lever, the electric ones pull the cable by winding it around a drum. Sometimes it does not wind on evenly and jams on release.  And just to complicate matters, when low range is in use Land Rover cause the drum to tighten further than otherwise. Some people use low range when manoeuvring in tight spaces such as car parks.

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