Regenerative braking
Recovering braking energy by letting the electric motor work as a generator; it lowers consumption and brake wear.
Regenerative braking, or recuperation, turns the electric motor when decelerating into a generator that feeds kinetic energy back into the battery instead of burning it off as heat in the brake discs. It works on electric cars and hybrids; on many models the degree is adjustable, from light coasting to one-pedal driving where the car decelerates strongly when the accelerator is released.
The consumption gain is largest in urban traffic and downhill, where there is a lot of braking, and small on steady motorway trips. Not all braking energy comes back: with a full battery, in cold weather or under hard braking the mechanical brake takes over in part. A side effect is less wear on brake pads and discs, because they clamp down less often.
On this site this is a concept explanation. The realised gain depends on trip, setting and temperature and is owner-dependent; we do not show it as a fixed figure but as context to the real-world consumption.
See also: Real-world consumption, Range, Mild hybrid, full hybrid & PHEV, Battery degradation
Source: Concept explanation; gain owner/trip-dependent, indicative
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