Early brake wear

[USA EV]

If the brakes are on all of the time because something is wrong I wonder if that would show up in your efficiency numbers.

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[astrand1]

I drive a 2023 ER and it has 31k miles. My rear brakes are nearly depleted. There's about 3 mm left on them. This was spotted when I had my snow tires switched for summer tires at one Ford dealership, and confirmed by a different Ford dealer at my 30k check up. From everything that I have read in multiple places online, this seems very early to have to do the brakes.

The second dealer, which is where I bought the truck, offered to warranty the rotors if I paid for the pads. That would be $175. I feel like they should cover the entire thing but they were not willing to. So the question on my mind is what should I do about it?

For context, I live in Northern Vermont, meaning:
-Harsh winters, salt and sand on the roads, etc.
- lots of dirt road
- 50mph state highways with very little traffic, so not much braking and really zero hard braking
- lots of hills but always rolling through instead of stopping on them

I asked the dealership to help me understand how this could happen. Their response was that it is normal in our area. They blamed the road conditions for early wear and tear on brakes, and cited a brand new F-150 ICE that had its brakes done at 15,000 mi. I asked why the rear brakes would be more worn than the front, and they said that the rear does the majority of the braking. (Genuinely curious here. Is that b******* or true?) Ultimately, they just wouldn't get past. The statement that needing breaks at 30,000 miles is normal.

So what do I do? Look for a new dealership and try to get them warrantied? Bite the bullet and get them redone? Contact the GM?

I'm also curious if anyone has thoughts as to why this might have happened. Is it possible that the dealer is correct in road conditions can affect the brakes this much? Is it possible that my parking brake was stuck for a spell? Other ideas?

Thanks for any help and insight you can provide.

Yes it’s bullshit. There are motors on each axle and they do the majority of the braking. Unless you’re panic stopping every time I would not think you’d have to touch the brakes well into 100k plus miles. I had a hybrid escape that was at 160k and brakes were still almost new. I live in Michigan so similar winter conditions. No issues here.

 

[MountainAlive]

I’m also on the side of the fence that believes there might be something wrong. It doesn’t seem normal to have such extensive brake wear on an EV at 30k miles. Maybe the rear brakes are somehow squeezing the calipers each and every time the brake pedal is applied.

 

[21st Century Truck]

The OP would do well to physically look at one front and one rear brake pad, compare the relative thicknesses and record the overall thicknesses (for future reference).

 

[RyZac]

I would take a drive and check your brake rotor temp. I just did a 40 miles highway/city drive and the rotors were ambient temp (44F) today.

 

[mr.Magoo]

I just rotated my tires / put on the 3-seasons and this is my left rear after 22,000 miles and three Michigan (tons of salt) winters.

 

[ZUES_150]

1-Pedal is your friend.

 

[Jseis]

FWIW I commute 90 miles a day in rain, sleet, sun, etc. Total stops per day from 30+ mph = 6. After 42,000 miles brakes are very good at about 95%. I have them checked every 10K. I drive in Normal-Sport.

 

[MountainAlive]

1-Pedal is your friend.

The cool thing about Ford EVs that even Tesla does not have is the brake pedal regen. So you don’t need 1-pedal to save brake pads. 95% of the time you use the brake pedal your friction brakes are not being used, instead it’s regen slowing you down. Unless of course you slam on the brakes then the friction brakes engage.

 

[ZUES_150]

Yup. I have a Tesla M3P and regen is automatic, you can’t turn it off and it’s very aggressive compared to the Lightning. It’s turned on in my Lightning and if you need to apply your brakes you’re probably driving to fast FWIW.

The cool thing about Ford EVs that even Tesla does not have is the brake pedal regen. So you don’t need 1-pedal to save brake pads. 95% of the time you use the brake pedal your friction brakes are not being used, instead it’s regen slowing you down. Unless of course you slam on the brakes then the friction brakes engage.

 

[USA EV]

I would take a drive and check your brake rotor temp. I just did a 40 miles highway/city drive and the rotors were ambient temp (44F) today.

Be careful, if they're hot they will be HOT! I.e. don't touch! Probably would be able to smell them, feel for radiant heat, use a few drops of water, or an IR camera.

 

[Marc]

I think there must be another underlining issue. If you are 1 pedal driving like I do then you should have little to no wear on the brakes. i'm at almost 30k mile with hardly any wear. Is it possible that your brakes somehow were bound up due to freezing? it happened to me in Boston when I was in college on my old Volvo.

 

[Webbo85]

2 years, 37,000 miles and just went through inspection. All 4 corners were at 8mm. In PA with lots of salt and cinders on the road all winter. Agree with a lot of people on here that something doesn't sound right.

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