A novel energy-efficient automated regenerative braking system

Abstract

Electric vehicles (EVs) are widely recognized as the future of mobility. Maximizing the energy efficiency of EVs reduces total energy consumption in transportation and addresses challenges related to future EV adoption. Regenerative braking is one of the most promising features for increasing the range and efficiency of EVs. However, the current implementation of regenerative braking relies on human drivers, which is not efficient. Additionally, these systems are not designed to provide efficient torque to maximize the energy efficiency of EVs. To address these challenges, this paper proposes an Eco-Regen system which is a novel, energy-efficient automated regenerative braking system (RBS) to increase the energy efficiency of EVs. The proposed system incorporates a continuously variable gear ratio to maximize recaptured energy during braking maneuvers, with a fuzzy logic controller designed to select the optimum gear ratio in the Eco-Regen system. Human driver behavior was measured to investigate its impact on total recaptured energy during braking, and the effect of average human driver behavior was also studied. Simulation-in-the-loop (SIL) and Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) results show that the Eco-Regen system can significantly increase the total recaptured energy, by up to 61 % compared to an average human driver, especially in scenarios where vehicles operate in environments with frequent stops, such as urban areas or transit buses.