Bidirectional VSI as a Regenerative-Braking Converter for BLDC Motor – An Analysis on a Plug-in Electric Vehicle Application

The limited distance covered by a plug-in electric vehicle is commonly caused by the limited capacity of its battery. In fact, the energy consumption of the battery can be reduced by recovering the energy wasted during braking using the regenerative braking method. In this way, it brings benefit to increase the battery efficiency while providing vehicle deceleration. Other possible advantages include reducing the maintenance cost because of the wearing out of friction pads and/or brake shoes and providing smoother braking torque. This paper analyzes two methods of regenerative braking, which become the object of many types of research nowadays, using a bidirectional voltage-source inverter. Characteristics of each method and its implementation are presented. Motor torque can be controlled and energy can be recovered to charge the battery just by interchanging the switching order of the inverter.