If you are anything like me, then a top priority of car safety is the braking system. Many EVs have regenerative braking. You may be asking yourself, “what is regenerative braking?” It is a simple concept that allows the battery to gain a little extra electricity. Basically, when you take your foot off the gas pedal, it begins to put energy back into the battery of the car. There is also a paddle on the left side of the steering wheel that when depressed, applies a harder “braking” but is regenerating more electricity than if you were just coasting or pressing the brake pedal.
For instance, when you are coasting, the dash indicates that 5-6kws are going back into the battery. When you compare that number to a standard braking system, you can see the numbers increase to 15kw-30kw. But with the regenerative paddle on the steering wheel, I saw numbers as high as 60kw going back to the battery.
This brings up something I think is cool. Throughout my whole trip, I only touched the brake pedal one time. There is a brake pedal, just like in a traditional car, but once you get comfortable using the paddle you can see how much more energy is going back to the battery and it becomes somewhat of a game! The paddle will bring you to a complete stop. Not only are users anticipating less maintenance on their vehicles versus a standard Internal Combustion Engine, but the brakes could last forever! Okay, maybe not forever, but the brakes could potentially last over 200k miles! Either way, it is for sure an improvement from a standard, gasoline-powered vehicle.
If you are considering purchasing an EV in the future, please reach out to Daniel at Daniel.Lofland@okcoop.org and he would be happy to provide you with any additional information.