Electronic parking brake

First installed in the 2001 Lancia Thesis, electronic parking brakes have since appeared in a number of vehicles.

Apart from performing the basic vehicle holding function required of park brakes, the EPB systems provide other functions like automatic release of the park brakes when the driver presses the accelerator or slips the clutch, and re-clamping using additional force on detection of vehicle motion.

[2] Further, the hill-hold function, which applies brakes to prevent roll-back when pulling away on a gradient, can also be implemented using the EPB.

During the 1980s, many companies across the industry, such as Mazda, BMW, and Volkswagen, began to truly experiment with the idea of a fully electric, driver actuated parking brake.

[4] The electric parking brake was first introduced in production vehicles with the emergence of the Lancia Thesis saloon car in 2001.