Brakes maintenance is essential for your safety. Slowing or stopping a car requires friction which is generated when you press the brake pedal - brake pads are used to slow and/or stop your vehicle.
How long brake pads last depends on various factors. How often you drive the car, the type of roads that you travel on and even how many passengers you have in your car. If you regularly use your vehicle on the motorway with no passengers you could travel thousands of miles before replacing your brake pads. If your regular trips are short journeys with passengers, the regular stop-start of city life and the increased weight in your vehicle may lead to the brake pads being replaced more often.
On many modern cars, there is likely to be a warning on the dashboard when brakes are worn. Don't rely on this though, if you can hear a loud screeching when driving, if the vehicle is pulling to one side of the road, or you feel vibrations through the steering, these are all indications that your brakes could require attention.
Green Cars’ is the term used for zero, low and ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs) - with pressure being applied to lower global emission levels, the need for “eco-friendly” vehicles is on the rise. Many countries now have plans in place to abolish the use of combustion engines before the turn of the century and so more and more vehicles we see on the roads will be Electric, hybrid or very low emission petrol and diesels.
Although beneficial to the environment, ‘Green Cars’ are also beneficial from a taxation view. The lower a vehicle’s emissions banding, the lower the taxation placed against it. Many manufacturers have tapped in to this ever-growing market with their own offerings, however, Volvo were the first manufacturer to state that every one of their models will be either electric or hybrid options from 2019.