Regenerative braking system can be mostly found in electric and gas-electric hybrid vehicles. Its main objective is to recapture the energy produced when brakes are applied. The electric motor used to drive the engine plays a major role during braking operation. When the brake pedal is pressed, the regenerative braking circuit switches the electric motor operates in reverse to charge the battery, when driver applies the brake.
In this article, we are going to discuss regenerative system in an automobile and the pros and cons. Most common form of regenerative brake technology reprocess an electric motor as a generator, this is the main reason, why regenerative brakes are found in hybrid and electric vehicles.
During normal operation, the electric motor draws power from the battery and uses it to move the vehicle. When the brake pedal is pressed, the electric motor is able to reverse this process and feed electricity back into the battery. This process will help charge the battery without any plug-ins in an electric vehicle, which results in increasing the efficiency of the vehicle. In traditional set of brake shoes or calipers clamp can decrease a vehicles wheel rotation. Due to this lots of friction and energy is released in the form of heat. That energy goes to waste. The regenerative braking can be 90% efficient to capture the kinetic energy and can convert it to electric energy.
Regenerative brakes can effectively convert kinetic energy into electricity, they are able to slow a vehicle down at the same interval. The main issue with a regenerative braking system, they don’t work well at low speeds as they do at high speeds.
Pros and cons of a regenerative braking system
- The advantages of regenerative braking are you will notice better fuel economy, reduce in carbon dioxide emission and also they are saving energy. The electric motor works in reverse during regenerative braking.
- The electric motor act as a generator to recharge batteries with the energy that would normally be lost, when you press the brake pedal.
- The main problem with the regenerative braking is it still relies on friction braking system.
- For example, the effect of regenerative braking system decreases at lower speeds. For this a friction brake is required to bring the vehicle to a complete rest.
- Friction braking system is required along with regenerative brakes in case of regenerative system failure.
Regenerative braking system should be developed in compressed air cars. Compressed air cars have a similarity with the electric vehicles with zero emissions. Compressed air engines also reduce the cost of vehicle production by around 20 per cent as there is no need for a fuel tank, cooling system, spark plugs or silencers. By installing regenerative system the efficiency of the car also increases.