Continental Reimagines Wheel and Brake System for EVs

Continental has reimagined the wheel and brake system for electric vehicles with its New Wheel Concept by coming up with a system that can harness energy from braking to top-up the batteries of the vehicle. Normally, this energy would be lost as heat in conventional wheel and brake systems. In an electric vehicle, it is possible to drive the car without relying on friction braking unless there is an emergency situation. While this means that the brake pads would last a lot longer than they would in a conventional vehicle, it also means that the brake rotors are more susceptible to corrosion as they remain unused. Normally, they would be cleaned by the friction of regular braking. If they become rusted, this compromises their effectiveness in situations when they are needed

To combat this issue, Continental’ substituted the traditional cast-iron used for the brake disc with aluminum in its New Wheel Concept (NWC). Aluminum is more resistant to corrosion. Continental also drastically changed the design of the wheel and brake system with an aluminum carrier attached permanently to the wheel hub, while the outer rim is made as a detachable section. Aluminum is more susceptible to heat loads and hence needs additional cooling. Hence, the caliper was relocated to run inside the brake ring. The design was changed so that the brake disc with the caliper running inside the brake ring could be accommodated in a brake disc having a larger diameter. The new design increases braking efficiency as the long leverage effect of the larger disc makes effective use of the relatively low clamping forces. Continental also claims that a set of aluminum discs will last as long as the vehicle does, with only the pads getting worn out with use.

The New Wheel Concept is not compatible with all vehicle classes with Continental saying that it is most suitable for medium and compact class cars. The high performance demands of large, luxury, and sporty EVs are too demanding for the NMC system.

The head of Continental’s Hydraulic Brake Systems Business Unit, Matthias Matic said that electromobility called for new solutions for braking technology as conventional brakes are not very effective for such vehicles.

He added, “The New Wheel Concept meets all the demands that electric driving places on the brake. We used our braking know-how to develop a solution that provides a consistently reliable braking effect in the electric vehicle.”