How Does Regenerative Braking Work?Learn How Hybrids & All-Electric Cars Create Their Own Electricity?
Hybrids and all-electric vehicles create their own power for battery recharging through a process known as regenerative braking (regen mode). We’ve explained what regenerative braking is and how the process works in general terms, but many folks are interested in the deeper nuts and bolts of electricity generation. They understand that in a hybrid or all-electric vehicle the word “regenerative,” in terms of regenerative braking, means capturing the vehicle’s momentum (kinetic energy) and turning it into electricity that recharges (regenerates) the onboard battery as the vehicle is slowing down and/or stopping. It is this charged battery that in turn powers the vehicle’s electric traction motor. In an all-electric vehicle, this motor is the sole source of locomotion. In a hybrid, the motor works in partnership with an internal combustion engine. But that motor is not just a source of propulsion, it’s also a genera
