Poster: Erb System Retrofitted For School Bus Application

Electric regenerative braking (ERB) systems are a commonly studied method for improving fuel efficiency and reducing overall greenhouse emissions for hybrid and nonhybrid vehicles alike. These studies typically explore varying regenerative braking methods through mathematical models or simulations, with only a few studies exploring physically built systems. Simplifying and scaling down real-world vehicle kinematics and energy conservation, this study proposed the creation of an analogous physical model, one that recuperates lost braking energy with a DC generator and uses the regenerated electricity for an initial start-up. The intent is to devise an external subassembly that can be retrofitted onto non-hybrid cars, reducing the barrier-to-entry of hybridization. Models of overall system efficiency were developed and tested and an estimation of savings was derived for rural and urban school districts as an exploration of the potential effect that technology can have on the real world.