A Regenerative Braking System Proposal For Light Electric Vehicles

One of the most prominent products of electric vehicle technology is electric kick scooters (EKS), which belong to the class of light electric vehicles (LEVs). The driving range provided by different battery types used in LEVs has not yet reached the desired levels. In this study, a novel regenerative braking technique is proposed to extend the range of EKS. According to the proposed approach, a regenerative braking strategy is developed for different battery types by varying the charging and discharging currents through the use of a multi-cell battery system combined with an adjustable resistor. To evaluate the performance of the regenerative braking system, simulation tests were conducted using MATLAB/Simulink, and an experimental study was carried out to validate the theoretical results. The simulation results indicate a range increase of 21.09% for lead–acid batteries and 28.35% for lithium-ion batteries. In real driving tests, the range improvement was measured as 18.24% for lead–acid batteries and 25.36% for lithium-ion batteries. Both theoretical and experimental results demonstrate that a simple and efficient regenerative braking system can be implemented to enhance the driving range of EKS.