Regenerative braking
OverviewHistoryGeneral principleConversion to electric energy: the motor as a generatorElectric railwaysComparison of dynamic and regenerative brakesKinetic energy recovery systemsMotor sports
In 1886 the Sprague Electric Railway & Motor Company, founded by Frank J. Sprague, introduced two important inventions: a constant-speed, non-sparking motor with fixed brushes, and regenerative braking. Early examples of this system in road vehicles were the front-wheel drive conversions of horse-drawn cabs by Louis Antoine Krieger in Paris in the 1890s. The Krieger electric landaulet had a driv…