Despite all the auto-tech brain-power in this world, fully electronic brakes-
which would replace brake fluid with lighter, quicker wires and motors-have yet to arrive. The long-standing obstacle: Industry-standard 12-volt electrical systems can´t drive a motor powerful enough to stop a two-ton sedan. The prototype Electronic Wedge Brake, by German company Siemens, solves this problem by tapping the vehicle´s own energy to slow itself down. Electric motors [1] drive screwjacks [2] that move a corrugated outer plate [3] fore and aft in plane with the rotor [4].