Does pressing the pedal mechanically/hydraulically move spinning magnets on the hub nearer other magnets to create electricity?
In: Engineering
KERS is a pretty general term, but generally when we talk about regenerative braking in vehicles, it’s in hybrid and electric vehicles.
Electric motors are pretty cool devices. They use both permanent and electromagnets to resist the flow of electricity and convert it to kinetic energy. What’s even cooler is with a bit of extra controls and design consideration, they can run backwards as generators instead.
Normally, you put electricity into a motor, the motor *resists* the flow of electricity, and out comes kinetic energy. In a generator, you put kinetic energy in, the generator *resists* the kinetic energy, and out comes electricity.
KERS/Regenerative braking systems keep the wheels connected through the drivetrain to the motor, and then use motor controls to make the motor behave as a generator. Electricity generated in the process is fed through some form of voltage controller and used to charge the battery.
The reason we don’t tend to put regenerative braking on ICE vehicles is because they don’t already have an electric motor that can be used as a generator, the electrical controls, or a suitably sized battery to store the energy generated.
The way regenerative braking tends to work is not that complicated, and there are essentially two common setups, and some cars allow you to toggle between them.
1. Combination braking. When you hit the pedal, the friction brakes engage the same way they do on any other vehicle. At the same time though, the brake pedal switch (the same switch that already turns on the brake lights), also sends a signal to the regen braking system that tells it to engage at the same time. I.e. both brakes work together.
2. Auto-regen braking, or “one pedal driving”. This tells the regen brakes to engage any time your foot is off the accelerator pedal. As soon as you take your foot off the accel pedal, the vehicle starts braking. If you want to “coast”, you can keep your foot lightly on the accel pedal. The benefit to this is that as long as you’re planning far enough ahead, you can use regen braking for 99% of your braking needs, and will rarely have to use the friction brakes.
The brake pedal still engages the friction brakes as normal for when you need them for a faster stop.
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