Hitachi Automotive Systems says its electric parking brake is being used on Mazda’s new three-row midsize CX-9 crossover SUV.
The supplier maintains in recent years, in the case of cable-operated mechanical parking brakes applied manually by using a lever or pressing down on a pedal, there has been an increase in vehicle contact accidents due to drivers forgetting to apply the brake or not applying it adequately on inclines or similar.
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This has led to an increasing focus on electrically-operated components, which can prevent such human error by applying the brake automatically and to a growing number of vehicles being equipped with such equipment.
Hitachi Automotive Systems has been manufacturing such systems since 1939 and has fused the technology with electronics to develop electrically-operated parking, which generates a braking force which is automatically released when the vehicle starts.
The new Mazda CX-9 uses a light thrust generating mechanism independently developed by Hitachi Automotive Systems.
This electric parking brake is also being used on Mazda’s improved version of the CX-5, launched in January 2015, marking the first time the Japanese automaker has employed an electric parking brake on a crossover SUV.
