[rlincoln]

Hello,

I have a highlander hybrid. There is an issue of regenerative braking that I've been thinking about and I don't know if people here can provide any insight. Here is the issue:

I'm imagining that there is a limit to the rate of current that can flow in to the hybrid battery by regenerative braking. Now, lets say you use the regenerative brakes to slow from 20mph to 10mph over 10 seconds. Compare this to to slowing from 50mph to 40mph over 10 seconds. The amount of energy that can be stored in the hybrid battery is different in these two situations because the kinetic energy of the vehicle is proportional to the square of the speed. The change in kinetic energy going from 50mph to 40mph is 3 times as much as the change in kinetic energy from going 20mph to 10mph.

So... given that the kinetic energy being recovered by regenerative braking is much higher when braking at high speeds, will I be exceeding the limit to the rate of current that can flow in to the hybrid battery? How should I adjust my driving to account for this in order to minimize throwing away kinetic energy? I don't really know.