Re: Fuel Savings from Roadbed Electrification Pays for the PowerPlant In 14 Months

 

Ok, now I can see that you actually don't get what I am saying. By
reverse, I don't mean "reverse the function so the motor becomes a
generator". I mean "reverse the direction that the motor is trying to
turn", which will actually *use* battery juice that is already stored.

Remember, the original question was whether you can bring the car to a
complete stop using only electricity and no mechanical brakes. The
answer is yes.

You are correct that it is not a simple 1:1 relationship in a
practical sense to stop the car with the generator effect. The most
obvious reason is that you usually would like to stop faster than you
have accelerated to the current speed, and you may be going downhill
as well. This means that even if you 'short' the motor<>generator as
someone suggested, the kinetic energy of the car will be have to be
dissipated as heat at a rate that will prevent damage to the motor.

I am suggesting that there will be a combination of effects used to
provide the system load, and that over time, it will develop into a
mostly electric system which gives ABS, and mechanical brakes will be
a back-up component and for parking. Right now, it isn't even legal to
have a car without mechanical brakes, no matter how reliable electric
braking could be made, so the argument is purely academic.

-tg

'Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good,
you'll have to ram them down people's throats.' - Howard Aiken