Regenerative and anti-lock braking system in electric vehicles

Abstract

Many accidents are caused when a vehicle is braked hard, causing the wheels to lock up. At such times, the driver has no control over the steering of the vehicle and as a result cannot change the direction of the car. Anti-Lock Braking System prevents wheels from being locked up during braking by using a non continuous form of braking known as Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) braking. This gives the driver the control of the vehicle at all times and even while braking. Because of such type of braking, the wheels can better grip the road surface and the stopping distances also reduce significantly especially on tricky road surfaces like icy or wet roads. The kinetic energy of the wheel is generally lost during braking in the form of heat due to friction between the brake pads. This energy can be recovered using a technique called as Regenerative Braking. In this technique, the excess energy is stored temporarily in capacitor banks before it gets converted to heat energy and is wasted. This system prolongs the battery life by recharging the battery using the stored energy. Hence the mileage of the electric vehicle also increases as it can travel more distance in a single battery charge. These two methods together help make an electric vehicle energy efficient as well as safer and easier to use thus preventing and reducing the number of accidents.