Source: The following is excerpted from a post by John Goreham on Torque News about the extended life of brakes on hybrid-electric vehicles like the Toyota Prius.
One benefit of Toyota hybrid and plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles like the legendary Prius and hot-selling RAV4 Prime is brake life. All hybrids and electric vehicles use regenerative braking to generate electricity that can charge the vehicle’s traction battery. Since the electric motor is slowing the vehicle, the brakes do not need to work as hard. We polled Prius owners in the Facebook Prius Club to see how often they have had to change brake pads and rotors. What we learned is that owners typically go more than 100,000 miles before needing to perform this maintenance.
How Long Do Brakes Last In a Toyota Hybrid?
In our poll, we asked that only original owners reply. We posted up various mileage numbers for owners to choose from. 60 percent said that their brake rotors and pads had lasted over 100,000 miles, 20 percent said that the brakes had lasted over 200,000 miles, and six percent said the brakes had lasted between 160,000 and 200,000 miles. No owner chose any option under 60,000 miles.
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One owner of three Toyota Prius cars offered this comment: “Brakes? What’s that? 250,000 miles on two Prius cars 95,000 on the third.” Another member posted a comment saying, “Just had mine checked at dealer…. 160,000 miles on original pads and rotors with 50 percent left! Amazing!”
Toyota Hybrids have low maintenance costs that rival all-electric vehicles’ (BEV). Since Toyota hybrids have no starter, no alternator, no power steering pump, no accessory drive belt, no engine timing belt to change, and a spark plug service of 120,000 miles, it is rare that a Toyota hybrid or plug-in hybrid requires repairs or expensive service. Toyota also makes filter changes for the cabin super easy and inexpensive.
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