Brake Pad Life on a 2021 Powerboost

[Marty811]

I have a 2021 King Ranch Powerboost with 34,500 miles. I just had the oil changed and the service advisor said that I needed front brake pads. He said that because of regenerative braking on these hybrids the pads wear out faster. The front pads are half way down while the rear pads are like new.
I do tow a boat in the summer that weighs about 5,000 pounds.
In my experience with Toyota Hybrids just the opposite is true. Brake pads last over 100,000 miles. Regenerative braking does not wear the pads any faster, just the opposite.
For you Powerboost owners, what’s your experience?

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[Gros Ventre]

Just looked at mine while on a hoist. Unless you've done some serious and heavy duty towing in the mountains, you should be fine. A hybrid lengthens the life of brake pads because some of the energy normally absorbed by the brakes is sent to the hybrid battery system. Any service advisor that tells you that is either ignorant of the engineering involved or he's pushing unnecessary work on you. ...And by the way I have had an Escape Hybrid since 2006 (bought new). Its brake pad wear is lesser by a good bit because of the hybrid nature of the truck. I've done much of the work on that one.

 

[RickBullotta]

Mine look good at 32K.

 

[Baz]

The service advisor is incorrect. The regenerative braking on the powerboost is done via the electric motor in the transmission to capture the energy to charge the high voltage DC system, the 1.5 kW-hr lithium ion battery under the truck bed. The regenerative braking should increase brake pad life. If you tow for very long distances or in mountain conditions it could wear them sooner.

And to be fair, the powerboost truck is a complicated system and still very new to a lot of dealers. It took me many hours reading through the workshop manual and on this forum to understand more about the systems and how they actually work.

It has been humorous to see the service manager/advisor and tech reactions and how they all stare at me in disbelief when I explain how some of the systems work!!!

 

[nitrobass24]

yea thats not right as others have stated. Im at 43k and still have plenty of life on my pads.

 

[HammaMan]

Yeah, that makes no sense. You've got 40kW worth of 'free' braking on the truck. There's just no way of that increasing wear.

 

[KirkBay]

I'm coming up on 94K and my pads are still looking good.

 

[UGADawg96]

Sounds like the OP doesn't need new brakes, but rather a new service writer.

 

[ajnov073]

37k on my 2022 Powerboost. Front brakes have plenty left.

 

[Marty811]

Thanks for all your replies. Needing brakes at 34K sounded a little fishy to me. Is it normal procedure to recommend new pads when they are only half worn down? I would anticipate the service writer to say something like we’ll take another look at your next oil change or come back in in 10-15K miles etc.
Regardless this guy isn’t familiar with regenerative braking’s affects on brake wear.
The dealer changed hands recently and I haven’t seen this particular service writer in the past.

 

[imnuts]

I know this thread is a few months old, but when I changed my oil and rotated my tires at ~29k mi, my front outside pads are down to a few mm of pad left. I didn't check the inside to see if both sides are wearing evenly. I plan and doing front pads/rotors this spring at ~40k when I change the oil again.

I'd recommend just looking yourself. On my wife's vehicle, the shop recommended new pads 2 years ago so I ordered what was needed. Went to replace them and the pads were only half gone and the next service at the dealer the brakes were ok. They are now at the point they need replaced, so that is also on the spring to do list.

 

[Marty811]

As the original poster, I feel like an update is in order. I lost all trust in my original dealer who said that I needed front brake pads at 34K miles. My new dealer did an inspection and said all 4 wheels were fine. All were at 9, not 5 like the first dealer said.

 

[Gros Ventre]

Remember... Brake pads convert rotational energy of the wheels into heat... in a hybrid the regenerative system converts some of that energy into electricity that goes into the battery... So less wear on the brake pads...

 

[Gros Ventre]

...And remember, there are service advisors and there are service advisors... They all live within a dealership culture, some receptive to you and others not so receptive. And then...........there are those that just want to push work onto you needed or not. I've mentioned my dealership in Idaho Falls, ID, Lithia Ford. That place is receptive and the service advisors listen. I wouldn't say they are highly knowledgeable necessarily (some more than others), but at the end of the day they listen and if need be call out one of their techs to walk through symptoms. Having spent a career operating, maintaining and repairing Nuc Subs, I like how they do business.

 

[Samson16]

just had the oil changed and the service advisor said that I needed front brake pads. He said that because of regenerative braking on these hybrids the pads wear out faster

Wow. Your pads might be thin enough to warrant replacing but utilizing the electric motor as a generator which creates drag on the transmission input shaft is not the reason.

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