Vienna Engineering has come up with a green answer for car brakes which does away with environmentally unfriendly hydraulic fluids and doesn’t need engine pressure to get brakes to work.

VE’s boss Michael Putz presented the VE Mechatronic Brake Tuesday afternoon at a presentation in Vienna-Floridsdorf.

VE's spokesman John Morris said, "The complicated hydraulic ABS system can be replaced with computer software.

All the modern braking systems can be simulated with computer software.

This will give the car driver the exact same feeling of driving and braking as with normal brakes, such as ABS, and with the same or improved braking performances.  It also takes a fraction of the energy requirements of existing brakes."

VE technician Michael Putz has calculated that stopping requires the energy of a light bulb.

Morris highlighted the attraction to the automotive industry: "The greatest advantage will be in cost reduction. With fewer parts and simpler design, assembly and maintenance costs will be drastically reduced and these savings can be passed on to the consumer.

'These cost savings do not compromise performance and safety. Braking performance will be at the same or at better levels than with conventional brakes and everything must conform to stringent safety controls. When braking is concerned, nothing is left to chance."

It is no surprise that an Austrian firm has come up with the idea given the number of steep mountain roads as Morris explains: "My family car needs brakes and coming down the side of Austria’s highest mountain the Großglöckner they need to be good.

"The Mechatronic Brake is named after the combination of mechanics and electrical impulses in contrast to modern brakes that work because of a complicated system of hydraulics.

"Hydraulics mean meters of pipes, environmentally damaging fluid and they cost a lot of money to install.

It costs even more to have ABS and other systems to prevent blocking so that my brakes don’t seize. Furthermore, the engine powers the brakes. If the motor stops that affects the brakes.

The VE Mechatronic Brake works even if the motor is turned off and as a Hill-Holder."

The VE Mechatronic Brake is still at the prototype stage and is some time away from being seen in the family run around. But the good news is it is no longer just on the drawing board. The prototype fits exactly in a VW Golf. The test was made on a real car and the brake really works.

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