Does pressing the pedal mechanically/hydraulically move spinning magnets on the hub nearer other magnets to create electricity?
In: Engineering
Simplifying quite a bit, but every electric motor is a generator. If you send electricity to it, it will spin. If you spin it manually, it will generate electricity. This is similar to how microphone and speakers are effectively the same devices, and LED’s and photovoltaic cells are basically the same devices. Obviously if something is made as a motor, its design is optimized for the motor duties, and it would make a pretty crappy generator.
However, if you build a motor specifically to be OK at doing both (turning electricity into movement, and converting movement back into electricity), then you can use it for regenrative braking. The same electric motor that pwoeres the car, when you want to use it for braking, you just “run it in reverse” and use the motion of the wheels to produce electricity.
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