It is possible to do regen on a DC conversion, but it is very rare and requires special controllers. The commonly available controllers like Alltrax, Curtis and Café Electric's Zilla do not do regen.
Regen is very commonly done with AC controllers. Overall AC conversion tend be a little pricier than the DC conversions, but (usually) offer higher efficiency. AC controllers can control the frequency and amplitude of the sine wave delivered to the motor which controls the RPM and torque, where DC controllers take the DC power from the batteries and 'modulate' the DC power to the motor. This is called Pulse "Width Modulation". There is more info on PWM located on the Wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse-width_modulation. Controllers that vary the frequency on AC motors are also called "Variable Frequency Drives" or VFD: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable-frequency_drive There is also a good article on how electric cars work here: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/electric-car2.htm Hope this helps! Shawn -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Kathleen Robinson Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 2:15 PM To: FLEAA Mailing List Subject: [FLEAA] Question about Regen. Braking and AC vs DC What are the differences between an AC conversion and DC? Doesn't the DC electricity get chopped, simulating AC? Is it possible to get regenerative braking in a DC conversion? I thought it wasn't usually done/couldn't be done? Why or why not? DC conversions are what most people do, because they are cheaper, correct? Thanks in advance for clearing things up. Katie _______________________________________________ Florida EAA mailing list [email protected] http://www.floridaeaa.org _______________________________________________ Florida EAA mailing list [email protected] http://www.floridaeaa.org
