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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / February 2008

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regenerative braking

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RichD - 03 Feb 2008 10:50 GMT
What is the efficiency of regenerative brakes?

Let's say we have a 3000 lb. vehicle, traveling 30 mph.
It hits a red lght.  That's 1350000 lb-(mi/hr)^2
kinetic energy, dissipated through the disc brakes.

Now assume it's a Prius - how much is recovered
into the batteries?

I'm not looking for a theoretical discussion, just a
number.  Anybody know the number?

--
Rich
Androcles - 03 Feb 2008 11:52 GMT
| What is the efficiency of regenerative brakes?
|
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
| I'm not looking for a theoretical discussion, just a
| number.  Anybody know the number?

80%.  Friction with air still causes some braking but most
of the KE is recovered and stored as useful energy to get
going again. Remember that no energy is required to continue
in a vacuum, so all the energy a car uses is wasted as heat
directly through the exhaust pipe and radiator and the rest
warms the atmosphere through friction.
John Bailey - 03 Feb 2008 14:06 GMT
>| What is the efficiency of regenerative brakes?
>|
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>directly through the exhaust pipe and radiator and the rest
>warms the atmosphere through friction.

Is that a fact and reason based answer or just a guess?  A battery is
not as efficient as a capacitor and there is a theorem from sophomore
EE that "proves" no more than 1/2 the energy stored in a capacitor can
be recovered.  More personal research would be needed to recover the
proof, but that would imply something like 40% of the KE absorbed by
the regenerative brakes could be recovered.

An Analysis of Hybrid Electric Propulsion Systems for Transit Buses
Milestone Completion Report by O’Keefe and Vertin of the
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
http://tinyurl.com/292xyt gives the efficiency of regenerative braking
as 49-50% at best and 39% as current practice.
Androcles - 03 Feb 2008 16:19 GMT
| >| What is the efficiency of regenerative brakes?
| >|
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
| EE that "proves" no more than 1/2 the energy stored in a capacitor can
| be recovered.

Sounds like a sophomore's proof.

What you will not be able to recover is
a) the heat lost to resistance.
b) radiated energy.

I mention the second because it is less obvious than the first.
 http://www.androcles01.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/AC/oscillator.JPG
 http://www.androcles01.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/AC/AC.gif

One improves the efficiency of radiation by adding the correct length
of antenna to the circuit above and then you call it a transmitter.

More personal research would be needed to recover the
| proof, but that would imply something like 40% of the KE absorbed by
| the regenerative brakes could be recovered.

If the objective is to burn fuel then cars are 100% efficient.
If the objective is to convert chemical energy to mechanical
energy then cars are 18% efficient, measured as lifting its
own weight (and that of its passengers) against gravity.
By driving the car off a cliff most of that energy can be
recovered. If the car is used as a pile driver that would
be useful work.
A brake does not assist the car in doing useful work.
The question asked was:
" What is the efficiency of regenerative brakes? "

Firstly we have to decide if stopping the car is efficient,
because clearly if that is the only purpose then a friction
brake is 100% efficient for succeeding or 0% efficient
for wasting useful kinetic energy. Indeed, locking the brake
will result in no heat loss at all, that will be transferred to the
tyres skidding against the road surface, but few would
call that efficient.
A regenerative brake returns some of the energy to the
battery without the corresponding heat loss and is therefore
82% efficient, the other 18% being lost to air resistance.
This can be improved upon by streamlining all cars to
look like aircraft. Of the 82%, 1-2% will be lost heating
the cables between the brake and the battery.
The figure of 80% is necessarily approximate since
an identical brake fitted to a different vehicle will change
the overall efficiency.

| An Analysis of Hybrid Electric Propulsion Systems for Transit Buses
| Milestone Completion Report by O'Keefe and Vertin of the
| National Renewable Energy Laboratory
| http://tinyurl.com/292xyt gives the efficiency of regenerative braking
| as 49-50% at best and 39% as current practice.

If you look at figure 46 of that document you'll see many variable
parameters including vehicle dimensions, location, time of year etc.
and we can argue the efficiency of brakes on roller coasters in the
Swiss Alps or kids burning rubber and doing wheelies on motor
cycles or the space shuttle deploying a parachute on landing.
 http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/space-shuttle-landing3.jpg
Regenerative braking on Airbus 308 would not be efficient, lifting
batteries to 30,000 feet is a waste of fuel and it doesn't have
electric turbo fans to recover the energy.

A Prius is not a transit bus and a transit bus is only efficient when
fully laden, it serves no purpose when driven around empty.
Benj - 06 Feb 2008 21:07 GMT
> | Is that a fact and reason based answer or just a guess?  A battery is
> | not as efficient as a capacitor and there is a theorem from sophomore
> | EE that "proves" no more than 1/2 the energy stored in a capacitor can
> | be recovered.
>
> Sounds like a sophomore's proof.

Great 'theorem"!  Tell you what. I've got a real nice large HV
capacitor. To prove your "theorem" I'll charge it up to a nice voltage
and then use a resistor to remove half the energy stored in it. At
that point we'll apply the terminals to your a.s.

Moron.

And Guys!  Please leave your liberal educations behind. In Science and
Engineering Quantity Matters!  No, Virginia, the world CANNOT be saved
by windmills!

One key parameter in regenerative braking is the rate at which energy
produced and returned to the storage system.  If you are going 60 and
just slow down, you can put large percentage of the energy back into
the system (except for the friction and other losses you are
overcoming, natch) but if you come up to a read light and lock the
wheels, you get next to nothing back.  Even with rapid stops there is
the question how rapidly and efficiently batteries can be charged at
high currents even assuming the regenerate system is capable of those
currents.  Physicists trying to do engineering! This is a hoot!
Nate Nagel - 06 Feb 2008 22:17 GMT
>>| Is that a fact and reason based answer or just a guess?  A battery is
>>| not as efficient as a capacitor and there is a theorem from sophomore
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
> high currents even assuming the regenerate system is capable of those
> currents.  Physicists trying to do engineering! This is a hoot!

Let's return to body-on-frame construction, with a ladder type frame.
All frame connections will be bolted and electrically isolated.  The
driver's side frame rail will be the positive bus bar and the passenger
side will be the negative bus bar.  The capacitors will bolt directly to
the frame rails, as will the motor/generators at each end of the car.
Problem solved!  In fact, the capacitors can act as the crossmembers, so
no actual crossmembers will be required.

Make sure to throw the main disconnect before placing your jack stands.

nate

(guess I better get started on this patent application doomaflatchey...)

Signature

replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

Evgenij Barsukov - 04 Feb 2008 15:23 GMT
>> | What is the efficiency of regenerative brakes?
>> |
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
> EE that "proves" no more than 1/2 the energy stored in a capacitor can
> be recovered.  

Battery is storing energy chemically at almost constant voltage,
therefore proof you are talking about does not apply. In fact
a traditional 18650 Li-ion battery at low current rate (say C/10 rate)
can be charged/discharged at 98% energy efficiency.
Main energy loss is due to IR drop both during charge and discharge,
which declines with I^2.  E_loss = I^2*R

Unfortunately during regenerative breaking currents are very high
so batteries have to be designed with very low R (that is why
only Panasonic and Sanyo can make suitable for HEV NiMH batteries).
    But even using the latest version of Panasonic NiMH batteries with
further reduced R, 80% efficiency of both energy recovery + subsequent
reuse (which both have losses) appears very optimistic. I would bet on
60%, but I would also appreciate somebody posting the real number.

Regards,
Evgenij

More personal research would be needed to recover the
> proof, but that would imply something like 40% of the KE absorbed by
> the regenerative brakes could be recovered.
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> http://tinyurl.com/292xyt gives the efficiency of regenerative braking
> as 49-50% at best and 39% as current practice.
Steve - 04 Feb 2008 16:17 GMT
> Is that a fact and reason based answer or just a guess?  A battery is
> not as efficient as a capacitor and there is a theorem from sophomore
> EE that "proves" no more than 1/2 the energy stored in a capacitor can
> be recovered.  

Maybe at some EE correspondence school in outer Elbonia, but not
anywhere creditable. Most capacitors are nearly 100% efficient at low
frequency and moderate charge/discharge rates, I have no idea where you
came up with some "proof" that no more than half can be recovered. Even
in very stressing conditions, such as advanced dielectric capacitors
under high discharge rates (pulsed power systems, for example) you can
get well over 90% of the energy back out of a capacitor. If you're
losing energy in a capacitor, then the capacitor was poorly selected for
the application- such as using an electrolytic cap at radio frequencies
or higher.

Batteries are indeed a different story, though. I agree that current
hybrids are probably achieving well below 50%.
Evgenij Barsukov - 04 Feb 2008 16:42 GMT
>> Is that a fact and reason based answer or just a guess?  A battery is
>> not as efficient as a capacitor and there is a theorem from sophomore
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> frequency and moderate charge/discharge rates, I have no idea where you
> came up with some "proof" that no more than half can be recovered.

Sorry man, it might not be obvious, but this effect is true, easily
provable based on the differential equation describing capacitor
discharge and known to every electric engineer:
http://www.smpstech.com/charge.htm

As other people have stated earlier, this applies only for straight
linear capacitor / resistor systems without inductance.

Switching systems with inductance is a different story and they can
be 90-95% efficient.

It does not apply to batteries because they are governed by different
differential equations. Their recharge can be approximated as as highly
non-linear capacitors, and because of this non-linearity can be shown
that they can be much more efficient than straight capacitors (mostly
because they maintain almost constant voltage).

Regards,
Evgenij

Even
> in very stressing conditions, such as advanced dielectric capacitors
> under high discharge rates (pulsed power systems, for example) you can
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> Batteries are indeed a different story, though. I agree that current
> hybrids are probably achieving well below 50%.
Steve - 06 Feb 2008 20:21 GMT
>>> Is that a fact and reason based answer or just a guess?  A battery is
>>> not as efficient as a capacitor and there is a theorem from sophomore
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> discharge and known to every electric engineer:
> http://www.smpstech.com/charge.htm

But we're not talking about the first-year method of charging a
capacitor from an ideal voltage source through a resistor are we? Nor
are we talking about discharging through a resistor to a purely
resistive load, are we?

> As other people have stated earlier, this applies only for straight
> linear capacitor / resistor systems without inductance.
>
> Switching systems with inductance is a different story and they can
> be 90-95% efficient.

EXACTLY my point when I made the first rebuttal!! There is no "theorem"
that states with any sort of generality that "no more than 1/2 the
energy stored in a capacitor can be recovered."  In fact you can get
nearly 100% out as heat, should that be your goal (as it often is in
pulsed welding systems, for example). Period. End of story.
Evgenij Barsukov - 06 Feb 2008 20:45 GMT
>>>> Is that a fact and reason based answer or just a guess?  A battery is
>>>> not as efficient as a capacitor and there is a theorem from sophomore
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
> are we talking about discharging through a resistor to a purely
> resistive load, are we?

I would not downplay the generality of this relationship. It has
nothing to do with complexity of the system.
   It generally applies to arbitrary systems that consists of (as many
as you want, and arbitary connected) resistors and capacitors, and
arbitrary path of discharge (e.g. it does not have to be constant current).
As long as both capacitors and resistors are linear, you can not beat
this rule.

The only way to beat it is to add inductors to the mix, or to make
capacitors non-linear (e.g. batteries).
    It is important to understand this conceptually to avoid some
attempts to beat the rule by making some complex systems (but without
inductors), which would be a bit like trying to beat the Karnot's
efficiency law by using alcohol instead of water in a boiler.

Regards,
Evgenij

>> As other people have stated earlier, this applies only for straight
>> linear capacitor / resistor systems without inductance.
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> nearly 100% out as heat, should that be your goal (as it often is in
> pulsed welding systems, for example). Period. End of story.
Androcles - 06 Feb 2008 21:13 GMT
| >>> Is that a fact and reason based answer or just a guess?  A battery is
| >>> not as efficient as a capacitor and there is a theorem from sophomore
[quoted text clipped - 27 lines]
| nearly 100% out as heat, should that be your goal (as it often is in
| pulsed welding systems, for example). Period. End of story.

At the EE correspondence school in outer Elbonia, if you drain
a tank of water you can only put half the water back, easily
provable based on the differential equation describing alcohol
ingestion and known to every hydraulic engineer that is currently
unemployed and wondering why he can't get a job even as a
plumber's mate in inner Elbonia, let alone as a car mechanic's
tea boy and general gofer in London.

Might I suggest that Evgenij Barsukov is ineducable and suitable
plonk material?
Evgenij Barsukov - 06 Feb 2008 21:18 GMT
> | >>> Is that a fact and reason based answer or just a guess?  A battery is
> | >>> not as efficient as a capacitor and there is a theorem from sophomore
[quoted text clipped - 38 lines]
> Might I suggest that Evgenij Barsukov is ineducable and suitable
> plonk material?

You want to measure credentials or salary?
Androcles - 07 Feb 2008 09:02 GMT
| > | >>> Is that a fact and reason based answer or just a guess?  A battery is
| > | >>> not as efficient as a capacitor and there is a theorem from sophomore
[quoted text clipped - 40 lines]
|
| You want to measure credentials or salary?

Sorry man, it might not be obvious, but this effect is false, easily
provable based on conservation of energy as known to every
mechanical engineer.
 http://www.kettering.edu/~drussell/Demos/SHO/damp.html
Evgenij Barsukov - 07 Feb 2008 18:40 GMT
> | > | >>> Is that a fact and reason based answer or just a guess?  A battery
> is
[quoted text clipped - 51 lines]
> mechanical engineer.
>   http://www.kettering.edu/~drussell/Demos/SHO/damp.html

I knew you will not accept the challenge. You remind me of that blue
cube/spring oscillator in your link - pops up without any obvious
reason, scrabbles a few meaningless one-liners and than disappears again.
Why don't you come to the table and play, instead of just bringing
the ping-pongs to the real players?

Regards,
Evgenij
Androcles - 08 Feb 2008 09:36 GMT
| > | > | >>> Is that a fact and reason based answer or just a guess?  A battery
| > is
[quoted text clipped - 57 lines]
| Why don't you come to the table and play, instead of just bringing
| the ping-pongs to the real players?

You remind me of those cretins that change names constantly -
pops up without any obvious  reason, scrabbles a few meaningless
one-liners such as "easily provable based on the differential equation
describing capacitor discharge" and thEn disappears again.
Let's see your proof that half the charge on a capacitor will be lost in
an inductive load such as the motor on a Prism.
There's the challenge; salary is irrelevant, you haven't got the job yet.
Dirk Van de moortel - 08 Feb 2008 18:26 GMT
[snip]

>> Sorry man, it might not be obvious, but this effect is false, easily
>> provable based on conservation of energy as known to every
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> Why don't you come to the table and play, instead of just bringing
> the ping-pongs to the real players?

When you play with people who don't play by rules, you lose.

> Regards,

Don't.
For instance:
  http://users.telenet.be/vdmoortel/dirk/Physics/Fumbles/Androrgasm.html

> Evgenij

Enjoy some more of
  http://users.telenet.be/vdmoortel/dirk/Physics/ImmortalFumbles.html
:-)

Cheers,
Dirk Vdm
jim - 06 Feb 2008 23:42 GMT
> At the EE correspondence school in outer Elbonia, if you drain
> a tank of water you can only put half the water back,

Well actually in outer Elbonia you only have a hole in the ground to store
the water when it's out of the tank so you usually can't even get half
back in.

-jim
John Bailey - 05 Feb 2008 13:47 GMT
>> Is that a fact and reason based answer or just a guess?  A battery is
>> not as efficient as a capacitor and there is a theorem from sophomore
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>Maybe at some EE correspondence school in outer Elbonia, but not
>anywhere creditable.

http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/0031-9120/40/4/008
Two theorems on dissipative energy losses in capacitor systems
Ronald Newburgh 2005 Phys. Educ. 40 370-372
doi:10.1088/0031-9120/40/4/008

"Abstract. This article examines energy losses in charge motion in two
capacitor systems. In the first charge is transferred from a charged
capacitor to an uncharged one through a resistor. In the second a
battery charges an originally uncharged capacitor through a
resistance. Analysis leads to two surprising general theorems. In
the first case the fraction of energy dissipated in the resistor
depends solely on the ratio of the two capacitances. The values of the
original charge and the resistance play no role. In the second case
half of the energy supplied by the battery is dissipated and half is
stored in the capacitor. The values of the battery emf and the
resistance play no role."

If you don't have an account, I will try to sketch the proof.  In
simple RC charging, the power/ current relationship is invariant up to
the limit 0/0 of no resistance and down to the 0/0 instance of
infinite resistance/conductance.  The proof is a matter of
generalizing this result along the lines of the Norton and Thevenin
theorems.

>Most capacitors are nearly 100% efficient at low
>frequency and moderate charge/discharge rates, I have no idea where you
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>the application- such as using an electrolytic cap at radio frequencies
>or higher.

By the way, the problem is getting the power IN to the capacitor as
well as getting it out!  Of course you can get nearly all power out of
the capacitor, its how to avoid putting half of it into a
resistor--sooner or later.

>Batteries are indeed a different story, though. I agree that current
>hybrids are probably achieving well below 50%.

http://www.sandia.gov/pv/docs/PDF/batpapsteve.pdf
A Study of Lead-Acid Battery Efficiency Near Top-of-Charge
and the Impact on PV System Design by Stevens and Corey
"Notice also that the overall efficiency shows high values, with full
charge represented by approximately 85% efficiency, a commonly used
value for battery charge efficiency. More importantly, notice the
dramatically lower efficiencies for the increments above
about 80% state of charge, where most values are below
60% efficiency, and full charge is represented by less
than 50% efficiency."

>Maybe at some EE correspondence school in outer Elbonia, but not
>anywhere creditable.

If I didn't eschew personal attacks, I would invite you to compare
degrees.  Only one of mine is an Ivy League school.

>> Is that a fact and reason based answer or just a guess?
Bluster, puffery, and obfuscation prevail.
N:dlzc D:aol T:com (dlzc) - 06 Feb 2008 01:03 GMT
Dear John Bailey:

...
> If you don't have an account, I will try to sketch the proof.
> In
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> Thevenin
> theorems.

But we don't have a resistor, we have an inductor adding or
removing kinetic energy from the system.  The dielectric of the
capacitor has losses, and the conductors do too.  But this can be
brought to less than 20% losses without too much difficulty.

http://www.ecass-forum.org/eng/faq/faq001.html
https://www.electrochem.org/dl/ma/201/pdfs/0233.pdf

The deal breakers will be charge / discharge rate (aka. current).

David A. Smith
RichD - 06 Feb 2008 03:48 GMT
Dear David A. Smith,

On Feb 5, "N:dlzc D:aol T:com \(dlzc\)" <dl...@cox.net> wrote:
> Dear John Bailey:
> > If you don't have an account, I will try to sketch the proof.
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> capacitor has losses, and the conductors do too.  But this can be
> brought to less than 20% losses without too much difficulty.

Inductors do not source or dissipate real power.

--
Rich
N:dlzc D:aol T:com (dlzc) - 06 Feb 2008 04:01 GMT
Dear RichD:

Dear David A. Smith,

On Feb 5, "N:dlzc D:aol T:com \(dlzc\)" <dl...@cox.net> wrote:
>> Dear John Bailey:
>> > If you don't have an account, I will try to sketch
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>> conductors do too. But this can be brought to less
>> than 20% losses without too much difficulty.

> Inductors do not source or dissipate real power.

Really?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superconducting_magnet#Magnet_quench
... resulting in explosion.  Don't get too hung up names.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_density

David A. Smith
HLS - 06 Feb 2008 15:18 GMT
"RichD" <r_delaney2001@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:6713da05-f9fa-4495-
> But we don't have a resistor, we have an inductor adding or
> removing kinetic energy from the system. The dielectric of the
> capacitor has losses, and the conductors do too. But this can be
> brought to less than 20% losses without too much difficulty.

Inductors do not source or dissipate real power.

--
Rich

An ideal inductor doesnt.  And you can get close enough to ideal for most
practical purposes.
RichD - 06 Feb 2008 03:57 GMT
> http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/0031-9120/40/4/008
> Two theorems on dissipative energy losses in capacitor systems
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> stored in the capacitor. The values of the battery emf and the
> resistance play no role."

> >Most capacitors are nearly 100% efficient at low
> >frequency and moderate charge/discharge rates, I have
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> the capacitor, its how to avoid putting half of it into a
> resistor--sooner or later.

Interesting.  It is a schoolboy level proof.

But the automotive circuit does not conform
to the models discussed.  The car battery is not
charging/discharging a capacitor, but an
electric motor/generator, which resembles a
R-L circuit with a back emf (i.e. another battery).

However, it might still partially apply... how to
model charging a non-ideal battery?  Does it
look capacitive?

--
Rich
John Popelish - 06 Feb 2008 04:22 GMT
>> By the way, the problem is getting the power IN to the capacitor as
>> well as getting it out!  Of course you can get nearly all power out of
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> model charging a non-ideal battery?  Does it
> look capacitive?

Dynamic braking makes use of both the generated EMF and the
motor inductance.  The R is just one of the unavoidable
losses.  Assuming the motion generated EMF is less than the
storage voltage, the braking controller shorts the motor,
briefly, allowing the motion generated EMF to drive a
current ramp up to some upper limit.  The rate of that ramp
is dependent on the motion generated EMF and the motor
inductance.  Then the short opens and allows an inductively
generated EMF to add to the motion generated EMF, to drive
that peak current back into the storage battery (or
capacitor).

The motor current then ramps down at a rate dependent on the
inductance and the difference between the storage device
voltage and the motion generated EMF.  Once the current
falls to a lower limit, the short is reapplied and another
current peak is produced.  The motor braking torque is
proportional to the average current during this cycle, which
happens many times per second, and the upper and lower
current limits are chosen by the controller to produce the
commanded braking torque.  This works till the motion
generated EMF falls too low to achieve the the desired peak
current when the motor is shorted.  Then mechanical brakes
have to take over to finish the stop and hold the vehicle still.

Note that there is no intentional loss in this process.  The
switch across the motor is ideally either a short (zero
ohms) or and open (infinity ohms), and real switches come
satisfyingly close to these two states.  The largest loss is
usually the motor winding resistance, which can be quite
low.  Capacitors take and release energy more efficiently
than batteries (which exhibit a little hysteresis effect
when the energy flow changes directions), but with more
voltage change.  I think vehicles now in production, charge
the batteries, directly with dynamic braking, but I would be
happy to learn that I am wrong on this.

Signature

Regards,

John Popelish

tadchem - 03 Feb 2008 18:32 GMT
> What is the efficiency of regenerative brakes?
>
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> --
> Rich

Hard data is ever harder to find.  Back-of-the-envelope estimates seem
to be running at up to 20%
http://geekbuffet.wordpress.com/2007/06/10/getting-back-what-you-put-in/

Tom Davidson
Richmond, VA
Sam Wormley - 03 Feb 2008 20:14 GMT
> What is the efficiency of regenerative brakes?
>
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> I'm not looking for a theoretical discussion, just a
> number.  Anybody know the number?

  Depends on the breaking rate... to fast and a large
  part is dissipated as heat.

  http://www.wired.com/cars/energy/news/2004/05/63541

> --
> Rich
RichD - 06 Feb 2008 03:44 GMT
> > Let's say we have a 3000 lb. vehicle, traveling 30 mph.
> > It hits a red lght.  That's 1350000 lb-(mi/hr)^2
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>    part is dissipated as heat.
>    http://www.wired.com/cars/energy/news/2004/05/63541

***************************************
Toyota engineer Dave Hermance said drivers who
slowly roll through intersections using "California
stops" are decreasing their mileage. "If you don't
stop, you don't get the free energy of regenerative braking."
***************************************

How did Toyota get to #1 with such numbskull
engineers?

--
Rich
Sam Wormley - 06 Feb 2008 03:58 GMT
>>> Let's say we have a 3000 lb. vehicle, traveling 30 mph.
>>> It hits a red lght.  That's 1350000 lb-(mi/hr)^2
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
> --
> Rich

  Hopefully that engineer was joking!
RichD - 06 Feb 2008 18:21 GMT
> >>    Depends on the breaking rate... to fast and a large
> >>    part is dissipated as heat.
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
>    Hopefully that engineer was joking!

"So how does my exam look, Doc?"
"You're fine, so I decided to inject you with AIDS."
"You did what?!?!"
"Well, how do you expect to enjoy the benefits of
modern medicine if you're healthy?"

--
Rich
John Bailey - 04 Feb 2008 13:28 GMT
>What is the efficiency of regenerative brakes?
>
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>I'm not looking for a theoretical discussion, just a
>number.  Anybody know the number?

20%

"Regenerative braking can be extremely powerful. According to Craig
Van Batenburg, who teaches Honda and Toyota hybrid service at
Automotive Career Development Center in Worcester, MA, no more than 17
percent of its capability is used in these cars to ‘avoid putting
people into the windshield.’ Even at that low level of use, in a
typical mixture of highway and around-town driving, regenerative
braking can recover about 20 percent of the energy normally wasted as
brake heat. This reduces the drawdown of the battery charge, extends
the overall life of the battery pack and reduces fuel consumption."
quoted from: Regenerative Braking Charges Ahead  by Jacques Gordon in
Motor Age
http://www.search-autoparts.com/searchautoparts/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=68244

Don't  believe anything from the web without citations, data, and
reasonable logic.

Checking further, it is somewhat suprising that regenerative braking
can even work much of the time.  Batteries are not happy with large
surges of current, preferring a metered trickle, preferably controlled
by a microprocessor.  The high tech solution to that is to add an
ultracapacitor.

from the same article:
"An ultracapacitor has a surface area that is several orders of
magnitude greater than conventional types, and the separation is less
than 10 angstroms (one angstrom is one ten-billionth of a meter). It
can hold a pretty big charge, and it’s voltage output and discharge
rate can be controlled with external circuitry. For instance, large
ultracapacitors are often used to provide hours of backup power for
computer systems after a general power failure. That is a relatively
long and slow discharge when compared to capacitors used to start a
motor. However, ultracapactors also can be used to deliver very high
voltage for a shorter period of time."

That then runs into Newburgh's theorems:
http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/0031-9120/40/4/008
Two theorems on dissipative energy losses in capacitor systems
Ronald Newburgh 2005 Phys. Educ. 40 370-372
doi:10.1088/0031-9120/40/4/008

"Abstract. This article examines energy losses in charge motion in two
capacitor systems. In the first charge is transferred from a charged
capacitor to an uncharged one through a resistor. In the second a
battery charges an originally uncharged capacitor through a
resistance. Analysis leads to two surprising general theorems. In
the first case the fraction of energy dissipated in the resistor
depends solely on the ratio of the two capacitances. The values of the
original charge and the resistance play no role. In the second case
half of the energy supplied by the battery is dissipated and half is
stored in the capacitor. The values of the battery emf and the
resistance play no role."

I seem to recall that Newburgh's theorems can be bypassed by using a
large inductance to limit the charging current. Perhaps a clever
engineer can figure out how to use the inherent inductance of one of
the motors to provide that ballast.

John
David Bostwick - 04 Feb 2008 14:20 GMT
>>What is the efficiency of regenerative brakes?
>>
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
>20%

And another calculation gives an answer of 80%?  Makes me very confident of
the accuracy.
Don Stauffer in Minnesota - 04 Feb 2008 14:51 GMT
On Feb 4, 8:20 am, david.bostw...@chemistry.gatech.edu (David
Bostwick) wrote:
> In article <nm3eq3dvj0o9u5f05nb7m82b8fn87i4...@4ax.com>, John Bailey <john_bai...@rochester.rr.com> wrote:
>
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> And another calculation gives an answer of 80%?  Makes me very confident of
> the accuracy.

I had earlier heard of estimates in the 80% range (from theory), so
this sounds good to me. I would also assume that it depends somewhat
on driving style.  Locking brakes does not provide good efficiency. I
believe all the hybrids have hydraulic backup, don't they?
gdewilde@gmail.com - 04 Feb 2008 17:36 GMT
> What is the efficiency of regenerative brakes?
>
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> --
> Rich

It depends on how fast you decelerate.

Energy from an emergency stop is not worth it.

But if you only have to decelerate a bit to take a turn and you start
breaking in time then you can get most of the energy back.

My sail car design uses a 250 watt motor as electrical assist with
cycling. It looks to me like my 4 wheeled bicycle is going to do a lot
more breaking then a conventional bike. Hitting the regen-breaks would
probably take some meters to stop the thing with such small motor.
Most electric motors can take big surges over a short duration, should
be the same when working as a generator. Then the batteries and the
capacitors determine how much current one can store.

http://wind-car.go-here.nl
John Savage - 10 Feb 2008 01:56 GMT
>What is the efficiency of regenerative brakes?
[...]
>I'm not looking for a theoretical discussion, just a
>number.  Anybody know the number?

I don't know *the* number. But I do know *a* number. The distance
that an electric vehicle can travel in city traffic on a given
set of batteries is extended by at best 10% if it uses regen
braking. Hardly worth it for the extra complexity and stress on
the electrics. Economies in other areas can had to achieve this
figure or better.

I remember this figure from some years ago; I was disappointed
to hear it to be so low.
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