Comparative Analysis of Human Braking Behavior and Automated Regenerative Braking Systems in Electric Vehicles

Electric vehicles (EVs) utilize regenerative braking systems (RBS) to recover a portion of the vehicle's kinetic energy, making RBS an essential component for improving energy efficiency and extending vehicle range. However, the efficiency of energy recovery in RBS is significantly influenced by driver behavior in human-operated vehicles or by control algorithms in automated vehicles (AVs). Although existing studies acknowledge the dependence of RBS performance on driver behavior, there is a notable lack of research focusing on quantifying this impact or understanding its patterns. This paper addresses this gap by analyzing data from an EV operated by human drivers and compares the influence of braking behavior on energy recaptured with an automated RBS. The results reveal that braking patterns play a critical role in determining the amount of energy recaptured, offering insights into the variability introduced by human drivers. This study demonstrates that an automated braking system can achieve, on average, a 15.86% higher energy recapture compared to human drivers, with even greater improvements observed in specific scenarios. These findings are essential for refining driver training, improving vehicle energy efficiency, and advancing the development of automated braking systems for EVs.