Handbrakes set to disappear from cars this decade as brands switch to electric

A check that has been a hallmark of cars for decades is rapidly disappearing from the latest models, according to a new market analysis.

It turned out that only 13 per cent of engines in UK showrooms today come with a manual handbrake, which will become a forgotten feature in vehicles before the end of the decade.

The majority of the remaining 87 per cent of new cars have electronic parking brakes, which experts warn are much more expensive to repair if they go wrong – an average of £446 more expensive, in fact.

The report is the fifth annual assessment of the number of cars sold with hand brakes, with numbers declining year over year over the past five years.

In 2018, CarGurus – the online used car platform – found that more than a third (37 percent) of models across all makes had manual parking brakes.

However, this has dropped every year, down to 30 percent in 2019, 20 percent in 2020 and just 17 percent last year.

Still, the 2022 rating shows there’s no slowing down in how quickly the part is being dropped from cars by brands.

It found that household names, including giants BMW and Peugeot, have all collectively dropped the handbrakes on their current cars over the past 12 months.

Of the 38 manufacturers surveyed, 17 no longer sell cars with manual parking brakes — that’s 45 percent of brands, the report found.

The BMW X1, M230i xDrive Coupé and M4 Convertible are all now equipped with an electronic parking brake, while Peugeot has discontinued its only handbrake product, the 108 city car.

In addition, the Citroen C1 and Nissan Micra, both of which had a manual handbrake, have been discontinued in the UK in the past 12 months, the report said.

Meanwhile, Audi continues to offer a manual handbrake in just 1 percent of its models, while Vauxhall has dropped more than two in five (40 percent) of its vehicles with a handbrake, with models such as the Combo Life and Vivaro Life facing an electric facelift in 2022 and a switch to electronic parking brakes.

The only manufacturer to offer manual handbrakes across its product portfolio in the UK is Abarth, although an electric Abarth 500 – based on the Fiat 500 electric – will be unveiled this week and will not feature a handbrake.

Some brands, including Mercedes, also offer parking brake brakes, which are operated with an additional lever in the pedal box – although these are becoming very rare.

Repairing an electronic parking brake is £446 more expensive

While electronic parking brakes are easier for drivers to operate – they activate at the touch of a button and automatically release when the driver presses the accelerator – and adjust themselves, they are much more expensive to repair than traditional handbrakes if something goes wrong.

We asked guarantor MotorEasy to tell us the average price difference. While repairing a handbrake has cost an average of £220 over the past five years, the average garage receipt for repairing a faulty electronic parking brake was £666 – a difference of £446.

MotorEasy’s extended warranty data also shows that more than a quarter (27 per cent) of electronic parking brake claims cost more than £1,000 to resolve, compared to 18 per cent of manual handbrake claims.

The most expensive repair ever was a £2,889 bill for repairing a Range Rover Sport’s electronic parking brake system.

It added that Land Rover was the brand most affected by parking brake problems, followed by BMW.

And electronic parking brake problems are not exactly rare.

In 2017, Volkswagen had to recall 766,000 cars worldwide – 134,000 of which were British models – due to a recurring problem with electronic parking brakes.

This affected the hugely popular Golf hatchback, Touran MPV, Tiguan SUV and Passat family saloon and station wagon.

The same year, Tesla also issued a voluntary recall of 53,000 Model S and Model X vehicles worldwide due to a parking brake malfunction, while Audi, Renault and Toyota all also had to recall models due to similar issues with their electronic parking systems in the past.

While CarGurus previously predicted that the manual handbrake will only survive until 2030.

With new petrol and diesel cars banned from that date, only fully electric vehicles – and some hybrids – can be sold in Britain. All of these have electronic parking brakes.

Still, the online platform says the current rate at which handbrakes are being removed from model ranges by manufacturers means the traditional interior section may not make it to the end of the decade.

Chris Knapman, editor at CarGurus UK, said: ‘The fifth installment of our Manual Handbrake Report shows that the number of new models fitted with a traditional handbrake continues to fall.

“The discontinuation of some well-known models, along with the increasing prevalence of electric cars, contributed to the 4 percent decline over the past 12 months.”

He adds: ‘Since 2018, we have seen a 24 percent decrease in the number of new cars fitted with a handbrake.

“It was always likely that the expected ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in 2030 would mean the end of the manual handbrake – the question now is whether it can last until then at all.”