Re: "Key to the car's economical performance is the braking system"
Well, the stats for our Nissan Leaf show that on average (over 6k miles so far) 1/3 of total energy output is recovered by regenerative braking. Only if you brake *really hard*, or at speeds under about 10MPH, do the mechanical brakes do anything. Our friends with a 5 year old Leaf have near-zero pad wear after 50k miles.