In China, BYD’s luxury marque Yangwang has drawn attention to its brake-pedal construction after reported failures involving the Maextro V800 luxury MPV. Zheng Yu, Yangwang’s assistant general manager, presented two pedal assemblies in a video posted to Weibo: one for the U7 sedan and another for the U8 and U8L SUVs. He said their pedal arms and mounting bases use stamped steel.
Zheng also outlined Yangwang’s development requirement for pedal force, which he put at a maximum of 2,500 newtons. China’s national standard calls for brake pedals to withstand 2,000 newtons for five seconds without breaking. The Maextro V800’s pedal base, by comparison, is made from glass-fibre-reinforced polypropylene.
The video also promoted BYD’s e4 quad-motor platform, which the company says enables independent torque control at each wheel and emergency regenerative braking if conventional braking fails. The report notes that it is not clear whether Yangwang vehicles can detect a brake-pedal failure. Maextro, a Huawei-linked brand, has promised free redesigned pedal brackets for existing V800 owners. The MPV is priced at 1.016 million yuan, while Yangwang also has models priced above one million yuan.