Wheels when braking to generate electricity?

[THX1138]

I was wondering whether wheels might regenerate some electrical charge when braking. I could then recharge my batteries when going downhill.

[Rath]

Why Would They Do this? The only time I can think of when this would happen in real life is going downhill and not braking and using the rotational energy to power a generator. If anything braking should consume Electricty.

[Dodgey]

Why Would They Do this? The only time I can think of when this would happen in real life is going downhill and not braking and using the rotational energy to power a generator. If anything braking should consume Electricty.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regenerative_brake

Yes it is a real thing. I don't see the point though.

[mattinoz]

I could see it for Rover wheels after all it should save weight, parts and charge to use regenerative braking using the motors that need to be there anyway. But it should be a fairly high tech rover wheels.

[Murph]

Why Would They Do this? The only time I can think of when this would happen in real life is going downhill and not braking and using the rotational energy to power a generator. If anything braking should consume Electricty.

It's mature and common technology for electric trains, battery-electric road vehicles, and some hybrid vehicles. Trains have actually had the first part of it, using the traction motors to brake, for a very long time, including on diesel-electrics, to reduce wear on the friction brakes, but originally just dumped the generated electricity into a resistor grid and then out into the environment as heat (known as rheostatic braking or dynamic braking). It's also needed on traditional locomotives to help deal with certain limitations of the traditional Westinghouse automatic air brake, which can't be quickly and constantly varied, so instead the locomotive dynamic brake is used to fine-tune the brake force while maintaining a constant base line force via the air brake.

If you didn't have a resistive load or battery to dump the generated electricity into, it would require consuming electricity to brake via the motors. Motors and generators are basically exactly the same thing, it just depends on the way they are setup, and electrical braking just reconfigures them on the fly. It does consume some electricity, to excite the field coils of the motors, but that is a fraction of the energy generated by the motors.

[TothAval]

I could see it for Rover wheels after all it should save weight, parts and charge to use regenerative braking using the motors that need to be there anyway. But it should be a fairly high tech rover wheels.

i could go for that high tech rover part

[John FX]

I'd like advanced wheels that generated, say, 60% of the power needed to drive them when you go downhill. It could be part of the features that reduce weight for advanced craft.

It should provide a braking force though, as has been said.

[MacroNova]

The Prius does this. I like this idea a lot.

[michaelsteele3]

The Prius does this. I like this idea a lot.

Yes, and that's why everyone who drives a prius on a highway's car looks like this:

[MacroNova]

I guess all the people I know who drive Priuses never take them on the highway. Thanks for educating me!

[Darnok]

I guess all the people I know who drive Priuses never take them on the highway. Thanks for educating me!

Why not?

[THX1138]

Why not?

They were being ironic or sarcastic.

[MacroNova]

Why not?

See d-bag comment above mine, implying Priuses are flimsy and helmed by bad drivers.