Regenerative Braking in Electric-Bicycles with Supercapacitors for Sustainable Transport

The transportation industry, followed by the energy sector, emits the highest amount of carbon, which negatively impacts the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and slows down the 2050 Net-Zero target. In the UK, 78% of every household owns at least one car, thus worsening the carbon footprint statistics, including the health risks associated with the frequent use of cars. Braking of such vehicles loses the kinetic energy environment. Sustainable transport, such as cycling on pedal bicycles, can be strenuous, leading to exhaustion, fainting, accidents, or deaths. Electric- powered bicycles (or E-bikes) can mitigate these problems as the users can engage in moderate exercise void of the risks above. However, E-bikes expend the energy stored in batteries and may not suffice for distant travel. Regenerative electric braking (REB) in E-bikes can store the would-have-lost braking energy in supercapacitors to extend the travel range, battery life and efficiency. Our experimental study shows a 4.14% net gain in energy efficiency when supercapacitors are used with REB. On top of that, we show that a lightweight, low-volume REB system could be constructed at a low cost, showing that future E-bikes with a similar system could be financially viable.