>2) The brakes in all of these vehicles are many times more powerful than the engine. Pressing the brakes would have stopped the vehicles, even if the engine we

>2) The brakes in all of these vehicles are many times more powerful than the engine. Pressing the brakes would have stopped the vehicles, even if the engine were attempting to accelerate full throttle. The brakes in 2004 and newer models are controlled by the computer. It controls the hydraulic pressure to the brakes to maximize the amount of work the regenerative braking system can do. It uses a pump and accumulator to store hydraulic pressure, and solenoids to send it to the brakes as well as provide pedal feedback. The only time you directly control the brakes is if the main system loses all accumulated pressure. Until then, you're just sending pedal input to the computer and it does what it wants.