Mazda’s i-ELOOP is world’s first capacitor-based renegerative braking system
Mazda Motor Corporation has managed a ground-breaking achievement with the development of the world’s first capacitor-based regenerative braking system for passenger vehicles, dubbed the i-ELOOP.
i-ELOOP, which stands for “Intelligent Energy Loop”, features a new 12-25V variable voltage alternator, a low-resistance electric double layer capacitor and a DC/DC converter, using which it efficiently converts the vehicle’s kinetic energy into electricity during vehicle deceleration. Such a system eliminates the need for a dedicated electric-motor and mountains of batteries. The recovered energy is stored in the capacitor for later use, to power the car’s electrical systems and even the car battery as needed. With the new technology, Mazda claims up to 10 percent increase in fuel economy.
The new regenerative braking technology will be revealed in the Mazda Takeri Concept, a mid-size concept sedan which is set to debut at the Tokyo Auto Show, and also boasts SKYACTIV technology and “KODO – Soul of Motion” theme.
Comments
rana
woow good on you mazda 🙂
bunkie79
Funny when I was in college we were trying to see whether this was possible as our thesis in engineering.
The idea was to use the kinetic energy/ momentum from braking to some other use and we tried to use it charge the battery.
However that was almost 10 years ago and technology/ funds limitation stopped us from taking it further. But good to see that idea was not a dud after all.
Our professor dismissed this subject as not feasible I sent him this link a while ago.
Mashfique Hussain Chowdhury
Hehe, interesting. It’s already the way that hybrids have been powering their electric motors for the past decade now. The only new thing here is that Mazda will use a capacitor to hold the energy, instead of extra big batteries, in regular cars.