Tires are a far more significant pollution source than brakes.
But still a far less significant pollution source than diesel (especially) and gas exhaust.
Though the extra weight of the regenerative system has to be taken into account.
Tesla's brake pads for the Model 3 are scheduled for replacement after 250,000 miles of use (according to tesla rep. I spoke to).
No, I did not mistype that.
Just checked mine on my honda with 200,000 miles. Fronts were a bit low, so I replaced them, rears were still about at half wear. Tesla is no magic beast in this reguard. The secret is a manual transmission.
If I drove my manual better, I could probably achieve that, but spirited driving made me replace everything twice over in 100k miles, with a third needed soon. :(
You pay twice everytime you brake. Once for the gas and then for the brakes too.