Regenerative-friction braking distribution. Tool for the comparison of strategies and vehicles configurations

One of the most important features of electric vehicles is their ability to recover significant amounts of braking energy. The electric motors can be controlled to operate as generators in order to convert the kinetic or potential energy of the vehicle into electric energy that can be stored in the battery and then reused. In a hard braking manoeuvre, the braking torque is much larger than the torque that an electric motor can produce. So, mechanical friction braking systems have to coexist with electrical regenerative braking. Additionally, several electric vehicle configurations are feasible taking account different location of the electric motors (different layouts). A considerable variety of possible architectural solutions, ranging from one to four individually controlled electric drive units is possible.