How many new cars have handbrakes? Hardly any, is the answer (2024)

If you buy a new car from a showroom today, there's a very high chance it won't have a manual handbrake lever in the middle of the cabin.

That's because more than nine in ten new motors are instead equipped with electronic parking brakes, according to market analysis.

A review of the latest vehicles on sale revealed that only 9 per cent are fitted with a conventional pull-lever handbrake, with the majority switching to button-operated electronic system - which appear to be causing issue for some drivers.

Last week, a motorist hit headlines after their home security camera captured the embarrassing moment they forgot to engage the electronic parking brake on their Audi SUV, which subsequently rolled forwards off the driveway into the road.

But not only are electronic brakes easy to forget to engage, they can be very costly to repair - more than three times pricier than fixing a manual handbrake, This is Money reveals.

An annual market review conducted by online motor retailer CarGurus at the end of 2023 found that 21 of the remaining models equipped with manual handbrakes were scrapped from showrooms during the calendar year.

It means buyers have 61 per cent fewer cars to choose from that are equipped with a manual handbrake compared to 2019.

The rapid disappearance of cars with conventional handbrakes has been accelerated by brands ditching some ageing models in their ranges.

Among these is Britain's favourite car of all time (based on sales), the Ford Fiesta.

Ford's decision to kill off the Fiesta, the nation's most-owned motor last summeralso took with it one of the few models still sold with a manual handbrake.

Ford's discontinuation of the EcoSport and Kia also axeing its Rio supermini removed two further cars with handbrakes.

Volkswagen ceasing outputs of the Up! city car at the end of 2023 has removed another model with a handbrake in recent months.

Revised versions of the Renault Clio, Renault Captur, Toyota Land Cruiser and Toyota Yaris in 2023 also switched from the traditional handbrake to electronic parking brakes.

The study found that the brands that offer the highest percentage of models with a manual handbrake at the end of last year were Suzuki (five of seven models, or 71 per cent), Abarth (two of three models, or 66 per cent) and Dacia (two of four models, or 50 per cent).

Fiat and SsangYong rounded out the top five, with 45 per cent and 40 per cent of their models having handbrakes.

When will the handbrake be killed off for good?

Since the first instalment of CarGurus' handbrake report in 2018, the percentage of models on sale with a manual handbrake has dropped from 37 per cent to just 9 per cent.

With many car makers transitioning to electric vehicles (EVs) around the end of the decade in time for the proposed ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035, the traditional component is likely to be extinct in new motors in the early 2030s.

Chris Knapman, CarGurus UK editorial director, said: 'It seems the writing's on the wall for the fabled manual handbrake as the percentage of new cars equipped with one dips into single figures.'

Chris adds that the 'once universal feature' is now largely reserved for smaller and more affordable petrol vehicles, including Britain's cheapest new car, the Kia Picanto, and others such as Mazda's 2 supermini.

'However, the reality is that there’s every chance we will see the manual handbrake become extinct on mainstream cars by the end of the decade,' he concluded.

The price drivers pay for electronic parking brakes

While there are those who believe electronic parking brakes are more convenient thanks to their automatic engagement and hill-hold activation, plenty of traditionalists still prefer a manual handbrake for their simplicity and mechanical feel.

Conventional handbrakes are also likely to be much less expensive to repair than electronic alternatives if they go wrong.

CarGurus said repairing an electronic handbrake can be as much as three times the cost of a manual handbrake.

According to data held by the Institute of Automotive Engineer Assessors, the average bill to fix a manual handbrake fault last year was £220.37, while resolving an issue with an electronic parking brake was £665.98.

This is Money asked used car warranty provider MotorEasy for an average claim bill to fix both handbrake and electronic parking brake issues.

The warranty provider told us the average repair cost for a fault with a manual handbrake is around £250, whereas for an electronic parking brake it is more than three times higher at £820.

Do electronic handbrakes automatically engage?

As well as heftier bills, some motorists are paying the price of becoming overly reliant on the convenience of the newer tech.

Electronic parking brakes automatically disengage when a driver pulls away and activate once they pull up and park.

However, there are times when the latter might not happen, either because the driver hasn't followed the correct sequence of putting the vehicle into neutral with a manual gearbox or 'park' with an automatic, or due to a fault with the system.

Last week, Vicky Lane from Hemel Hempstead shared the embarrassing moment she forgot to activate the electronic parking brake in her Audi Q2.

The compact crossover - which launched in 2016 - is exclusively fitted with an electronic parking brake across all trim levels.

Footage showed the 23-year-old account manager exiting her car after parking up, only to see it slowly disappearing down the driveway because the parking brake hadn't been applied correctly.

Despite trying as hard as she could to stop the car from rolling into the road, the free-wheeling German SUV - and Vicky - narrowly miss a fence post before Vicky manages to get inside to apply the brake.

The video highlights the potential dangers of failing to check if an electronic parking brake has engaged or not.