I just clicked passed 90k miles and i'm still on the original friction brakes front and rear(2009 Tahoe Hybrid), they still have 80% material left, I find this almost unbelieveable. I have never heard of a vehicle that will go over 100K on the original brake pads(possibly could go over 150K).
Is everyone else having similar wear? The regenerative brakes must really take a load off the friction brakes.
My 2010 escalade non-hybrid went 75K on the front brake pads and I thought that was amazing.
I used to own a vehicle with an electromagnetic driveline brake and the friction brakes got almost no wear, I guess the regenerative brakes operate on the same principle.

 

I have 129k miles on my original brakes front and back with 33% left.

 

Wow, 129K, with 33% left, that is amazing. and I assume you have 22" escalade wheels which theoretically should be slightly harder on the brakes(more rolling mass) than the lighter 18" tahoe wheels.

 

yup! I actually brought it to the dealership to change the brake pads at 120k miles and the caddy dealer said that it still had meat left. unbelievable-yes the 22 inch wheels.

 

When you are converting kinetic energy to electricity inside the hybrid transmission, you don't make so much heat with brake pads.

NOTE: black brake pad dust on front wheels = inefficient driver.

 

NOTE: black brake pad dust on front wheels = inefficient driver.[/quote]

LOL!

in my aviation world (especially jets) that is known as inefficient energy management.

 

I went 135K on my 2005 Fords Escape Hybrid without needing brakes. Traded it in on my 2011 Silverado Hybrid - now at 68,00 miles with original brakes. I am fairly certain my Chevy Volt will never need brakes for the life of the car.

 

CD- your Volt has 2 things the 2-Mode lacks. First the much larger battery can take pretty much all the Re-Gen power the hybrid has to throw at it. Second the front versus rear drive.

Rear drive at higher deceleration rates lift the back end and that can get unstable. Front drive at high "g" braking loads the front tires even harder. The the 2-Mode can't take all the Re-Gen the 60kW ish motors can throw at it, the battery isn't sized for 60kW. But your Volt can pretty much do most of the braking by generating electricity and stuffing it in the battery. The Volt battery can take quite a bit more power.

It will be interesting to see how far most Volt brake pads last. I'm betting that "lot rot" gets to them first.

 

I keep trying to plug in the Volt Charger into the Silverado but I have found the port yet.

 

what did y'all used for brake pads? I want to stick to OEM as I like less brake dust vs my Evo with brembo and range rover where brake dust is the norm? after trying to order online at gm parts direct or other sources, they indicate w/ or w/o active brakes. Which one is ours? I prefer to just replace the pads and let it bed with the rotors instead of cutting the rotors. I have 146k miles already. original pads and rotors but don't want the wait time of parts. dealership says I have at least 5 mm left. my pilot with 210k miles is still on it's stock rotors. No aftermarket unless its a brembo