IIT Madras team devises way to improved braking in electric vehicles

NEW DELHI: Researchers at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras have devised strategies to improve the braking performance of electric and hybrid vehicles, said a statement from the institute. Their methods will help improve braking in heavier vehicles, a statement from the institute said.

Such strategies were already there for lighter road vehicles. For heavier vehicles, the strategy that is being used is “regenerative braking”.

“Given the increasing adoption of electrified heavy road vehicles, it is imperative to study their dynamic response during on-road operation. Brakes are used to ensure safe operation of vehicles, and this research focuses on the braking of electrified heavy road vehicles,” said C. S. Shankar Ram, department of engineering design, IIT Madras who led the team.

Braking systems

Electric vehicles use two braking systems, “friction-based braking system” and “regenerative braking system”.

In conventional fossil fuel-based heavy road vehicles, the force that the driver applies on the brake pedal is used to regulate a pneumatic system whose output force is used to stop the vehicle using friction braking. However, for electric vehicles, an arrangement is made to reduce this energy loss by using a regenerative braking system.

“Due to the faster response of regenerative braking, its switch-off can cause momentary perturbations in vehicle’s deceleration and its associated vehicle dynamic parameters until the friction brake system increases its brake pressure to meet the desired brake demand from the driver. This situation disturbs the driver’s brake feel momentary due to the difference in the dynamic response characteristics of these two braking systems,” added Ram.

The results of their study have been published in the reputed peer-reviewed Journal Vehicle System Dynamics.

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