Simulated LACT Procedure for Predicting Lining Life for Vehicles with Regenerative Braking

The Simulated Los Angeles City Traffic (SLACT) test is a well-established dynamometer test procedure used to evaluate brake noise and lining wear performance under a typical US city driving conditions. This procedure is based on a vehicle test conducted on the roads of Los Angeles, California. Unlike ICE vehicles, in electric vehicles regenerative brakes do a significant amount of the work to stop the vehicle, resulting in less work required from the foundation brakes. This means that the life of a brake pad could significantly increase in electric vehicles. It is possible then to reduce the thickness of the brake pad to improve packaging and cost. However, in situations where regenerative braking is disabled due to a failure or low battery charge level, all the work must be done by the foundation brake with no support from the regenerative braking. Hence, it is crucial to select the optimal brake pad thickness for such scenarios. The SLACT test was designed primarily for ICE vehicles and may not represent the lining life of electric vehicles accurately. As more auto manufacturers have started developing electric vehicles, there is now a need to establish a test procedure that considers regenerative braking for lining life predictions. This paper discusses in detail a modified SLACT test procedure that considers regenerative braking for electric vehicle lining life prediction.