A NEW report came out this week highlighting the importance of convenience items for car buyers.

The analysis from Frost & Sullivan – called European Passenger Cars and Light Commercial Vehicles Market for Electric Parking Brakes – reckoned that more and more cars would be fitted with electronic parking brakes. Instead of the old handle you pull up, in its place you’ll increasingly find a button. One of the advantages is the saving in weight apparently. (It also declutters the central console area.)

“The increasing focus on technologies that comply with safety and emission norms will boost market prospects,” noted Frost & Sullivan’s research analyst, Sandeep Chandrasekaran.

Sandeep expected that the increasing trend for comfort features would drive the installation of electronic parking brakes into more cars, along with vans, too.

I’m not entirely convinced by them yet. My Audi A4 has one. There is one button that acts as a handbrake when you stop and want to turn off the ignition (with a red light). Another with a green light you push when driving so that when you come to halt at traffic lights the handbrake is engaged automatically.

All well and good.

But when you start again there is a very slight delay in the release mechanism. You can feel the A4 being held back just momentarily. They can also creak, too. I just don’t feel it’s as smooth in operation as a conventional handbrake. At least for the moment.

However, I do like the fact that the centre console area is much cleaner – that’s a definite plus. But Audi’s engineers need to work on the smoothness of its operation.

A button replaces a conventional handbrake