Examination and measurement of range extension using different recuperation modes in electric vehicles

As the cruising range is one of the main disadvantages of fully electric vehicles compared to vehicles with combustion engines, its improvement is an important research challenge momentarily. The recuperation of the braking energy is one research approach. In this paper, the theoretical potential of recuperation is discussed and a survey of recuperation strategies is presented. The recuperation energy and therefore the obtained range extension of currently available electric vehicles is measured. In a further step, theoretically possible energy values for different recuperation levels are discussed. It is shown, that an optimised recuperation strategy can help to enlarge the range without extension of the accumulator capacity.