How Hybrid Car Brakes Work

Here’s an in-depth look into the braking system of the Toyota Prius Hybrid.

Hybrid cars cannot use traditional vacuum assisted brake boosters. This is because when the internal combustion engine is shut off, there is no vacuum available to power the brakes. In addition, hybrids use regenerative braking by turning the electric motor in the transmission into a generator to charge the battery. Thus the computer must control the braking pressure applied to the calipers to balance it with the force from regen braking for optimal efficiency and seamless operation to the driver.

A hybrid car’s brakes implores the use of a traditional brake fluid reservoir and master cylinder. The master cylinder takes fluid flow, generated from the brake pedal from the driver and sends it to the stroke simulator. The simulator is cylinder that fills with brake pressure and provides the driver feedback of where the brake pedal is and how much force to apply – although it is still not mechanically linked to the force being applied to the wheels.

The ABS actuator has an electric motor that drives a hydraulic pump that fills an accumulator. This provides the brake pressure to the apply and release solenoids that lead to each brake caliper. The computer can use this setup to completely electronically control the braking system based on the pressure sensed from the driver’s input and the caliper’s output as a closed loop control system. It also interfaces with the hybrid regenerative system through the CANBUS so the braking forces are related to what the driver has requested. The fluid from the master cylinder is cut off completely during this operation, and are left in the fail open position for manual operation of the front brakes in the event of no power.

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