What is regenerative braking? PH Explains
How manufacturers capture waste energy in order to boost efficiency
When a driver applies the brakes, the car's kinetic energy is converted into heat. This energy, which could be put to good use, is simply dumped into the air and goes to waste.
A regenerative braking system attempts to minimise this wastage by capturing some of the kinetic energy, typically by converting it to electricity, and reusing it.
This captured energy can then be used to improve the efficiency of a car; it can extend the battery range of an electric vehicle, or be used in several ways to reduce the fuel consumption of a hybrid or conventional car - and it can even be used to boost performance momentarily.
Why use regenerative braking?
If the driver applies the brakes in a conventional car, the vehicle's kinetic energy - which is the result of its motion - is converted into heat by the friction generated in the braking system. When a brake pad is clamped to the disc, the kinetic energy of the car is converted to heat by the friction occurring between the material in the pad and the surface of the disc.
The heat produced is then lost to the atmospheric air passing over the braking components, or absorbed into the components themselves. This energy, however, could be put to good use instead of simply being wasted - granting efficiency benefits.
How does a regenerative braking system work?
Regenerative braking is most commonly used in electric and hybrid vehicles, where the drive or assistance motor can be used as a generator while braking. The motor then converts the kinetic energy of the vehicle into electrical energy, while the torque required to turn the motor slows the car.
The electrical energy generated can then be stored in a battery or a supercapacitor - as is the case in Mazda's 'i-ELOOP' configuration. It can be used immediately, to power ancillaries and the drive motor, or stored and used later when required.
In some setups, the conventional hydraulic braking system may be actuated at the same time; in this 'parallel' configuration, regenerative braking will be applied to the axle or axles driven by the motor in conjunction with friction braking.
Alternatively, a 'series' regenerative system can be used. In this set-up, the regenerative braking can be used on its own to slow the vehicle when only light braking is required. If more stopping power is required, the hydraulic system can then be gradually introduced to stop the vehicle. This setup requires that the vehicle have some form of electro-hydraulic braking systems, in which the driver's inputs aren't directly related to the actuation of the brakes.
Manufacturers have to work hard to ensure that the transition between these modes isn't noticeable, though, with the aim being to smoothly blend regenerative and physical braking modes. The strength of the regenerative braking can also be adjusted in many cars, to suit the driver's preferences.
Regenerative braking can be even be used in so-called 'micro hybrids', which have an integrated starter/generator for their stop-start system.
Are there other types of regenerative braking systems?
Any system that captures energy which would otherwise be lost during deceleration is a regenerative braking system. While the electric and hybrid variants are the most common, there are other setups.
For example, the PSA Group developed a concept using a compressed air regenerative system dubbed 'Hybrid Air' - and similar hydraulic-based systems have also been tested.
Flywheel-based recovery systems can also be used; in these, a flywheel can be accelerated while braking and then the energy stored by it deployed straight back into the drivetrain. Alternatively, the energy in the flywheel can be used to drive a generator. The electricity produced by the generator can then be used in a drive motor, or to top up the vehicle's batteries.
Early 'Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems' used in Formula 1 were based on such flywheel-type designs but quickly evolved into 'Motor Generator Unit - Kinetic' setups, which adopted a more straightforward approach using a motor integrated into the powertrain which would convert kinetic energy into electricity during braking; the same motor can also be used to provide a boost when required.
A brief history of regenerative braking
The concept of regenerative braking, in automotive applications, has been around since some of the earliest electric vehicles and dates back to the late 1800s. It was also employed in some of the earliest petrol-electric hybrids; the Woods Motor Vehicle 'Dual Power' from 1911 reputedly had a regenerative mode, for example, which could be used to top up its batteries when slowing.
It would be some time until a fully-fledged electro-hydraulic braking system, working in conjunction with a regenerative braking set-up, would arrive. The first road-going example was featured in the General Motors EV1 of 1996; a mass-produced system that arrived in the 1997 Toyota Prius. Today, several manufacturers use such configurations.
There is talk of a new generation of nanotube-anode batteries that will allow faster regen and render service brakes almost obsolete.
Of course, that becomes problematical for RWD cars, as instability of slippery surfaces may be induced.
There is talk of a new generation of nanotube-anode batteries that will allow faster regen and render service brakes almost obsolete.
Of course, that becomes problematical for RWD cars, as instability of slippery surfaces may be induced.
If 90% of all braking capacity (up to say 0.9g) was delivered through regen only, a power failure during a dry braking emergency (1.0g) would mean that the driver would suddenly lose 90% of their braking capacity. Even if there was an agressive 0.3g provided from the overrun, 70% of the braking request would have been requested by the driver using the brake pedal which leaves less than 30% of the pedal travel left to physically push through the hydraulic fluid (which would ultimately result in very little deceleration).
In future, it's likely double redundancy systems will enable higher amounts of regen on pedal, but that's at least 3-5 years away currently.
There’s plenty of discussion going on about it at the moment, along with the relevance of friction brakes. The consensus is that eliminating them would require too much overspecification in terms of power electronics, so not just the battery. You might see rear brakes drop off some lower end cars but some of the German big players in automotive systems are already saying even that’s unlikely in the forseeable future.
The problem is that you don’t specify a braking system for typical use, you specify it for edge cases. Your average driver could probably happily use a set of Toyota aygo brakes on a 5-series without noticing any detriment on a typical day, but even if hard braking or high level heat endurance is only needed once every 50,000 Miles it’s still needed, and friction brakes are much cheaper and lighter than high voltage electronics.
I didn't think Mazda's i-eloop system powered the drive motor, it just takes the load off the alternator.
I didn't think Mazda's i-eloop system powered the drive motor, it just takes the load off the alternator.
Maybe one day, they'll bypass the bridge rectifier and use the alternator as a tiny booster motor, who knows?
There is talk of a new generation of nanotube-anode batteries that will allow faster regen and render service brakes almost obsolete.
Of course, that becomes problematical for RWD cars, as instability of slippery surfaces may be induced.
If 90% of all braking capacity (up to say 0.9g) was delivered through regen only, a power failure during a dry braking emergency (1.0g) would mean that the driver would suddenly lose 90% of their braking capacity. Even if there was an agressive 0.3g provided from the overrun, 70% of the braking request would have been requested by the driver using the brake pedal which leaves less than 30% of the pedal travel left to physically push through the hydraulic fluid (which would ultimately result in very little deceleration).
In future, it's likely double redundancy systems will enable higher amounts of regen on pedal, but that's at least 3-5 years away currently.
I looked at the NSX's system, which is allegedly 'brake by wire' but clearly has a large degree of redundancy inbuilt:
I'm uncertain what it does under catastrophic electrical failure, other than somehow go into full hydraulic mode.
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