An Investigation of Driver Brake Pedal Stroke Input on Regenerated Braking Energy in Electric Vehicles via Dynamic Programming

The rising popularity of electric vehicles increases the need for advanced techniques to improve driving efficiency. One such method is regenerative braking, which captures kinetic energy from the wheels—energy that would otherwise be lost as in traditional braking systems. In this study, a fully electric vehicle model which is three degrees of freedom was created with a fixed pedal-feel brake pedal and electric motors on both axles. The brake torque produced by pedal stroke input in different braking scenarios was allocated to the electric motors on the front and rear axles via dynamic programming in MATLAB/Simulink. It was compared to the case where the distribution ratio is fixed. More energy was gained with dynamic programming compared to the fixed allocation, and it is concluded that the duration of pressing the pedal and the repetition of pressing are effective parameters on energy recovery.