Regenerative Braking and One-Pedal Driving in EVs Explained Simply

What Does Regenerative Braking Mean in an EV?

The word comes from the Latin "recuperare" and means to recover. As soon as your EV decelerates, the electric motor no longer works as a drive motor, but as a generator. It converts the kinetic energy of the moving car back into electricity and feeds it into the battery. ADAC compares the principle to a bicycle dynamo, which generates electricity for the light from the rotation of the wheel [1].

Physics sets clear limits here. You can never recover more energy than you previously invested in accelerating. Nevertheless, regenerative braking is clearly worthwhile in everyday driving, especially in the city with its many braking events.

One-Pedal Driving: Driving with Just One Pedal

One-pedal driving is the strongest level of regenerative braking. If you release the accelerator pedal, the car decelerates so strongly that it brakes all the way to a standstill without you touching the brake pedal. The right pedal thus becomes a kind of rotary control: Press it and you accelerate. Release the pedal and you brake.

How strong this deceleration is depends on the model. Specialist media put the braking effect when releasing the pedal at around 20% of full braking force. Once the vehicle finally comes to a stop, the mechanical brakes take over and hold the car safely in place [4]. In most EVs, you activate one-pedal driving via a switch or driving mode, because on country roads and motorways some people find the strong deceleration impractical.

One note in advance: One-pedal driving rewards anticipatory driving. If you release the pedal early, you coast to a gentle stop while charging the battery instead of having to brake late and hard.

And How Much Energy Do You Actually Get Back?

Now it gets specific. In March 2024, ADAC together with Green NCAP tested a total of 19 current electric cars in a cycle based on the WLTP.

The result: On average, the vehicles recover around 22% of the energy previously used.

The driving situation is crucial. In city traffic, where you are constantly decelerating, current models recover around 30% on average, with some top performers even exceeding 40%. On the motorway, by contrast, you hardly brake, which is why the regeneration rate drops to around 10%. The effect is most impressive downhill: Depending on the model, between around 35 and 50% of the energy previously invested flows back into the battery during the descent [2].

Two factors limit energy recovery. If the battery is already almost full, it can hardly absorb any more electricity, and regenerative braking is significantly reduced to protect the battery. At low temperatures, the battery chemistry also works more slowly, meaning noticeably less energy is recovered in winter.

What Are the Benefits of Regenerative Braking and One-Pedal Driving?

The technology benefits your everyday driving in several ways:

• More range: Especially in city traffic, the recovered energy extends the distance you can travel per charge.
• Less brake wear: Because the mechanical brake is used less frequently, the brakes generally last longer than in many combustion-engine vehicles.
• Cleaner air: Less braking means less particulate matter from brake wear, an emissions source that the upcoming Euro 7 standard even limits.
• More comfort: One-pedal driving makes stop-and-go traffic more relaxed because you switch between two pedals less often.
• Lower costs: Greater efficiency and less wear reduce ongoing operating costs. H2 Safety and Limits of One-Pedal Driving

As convenient as one-pedal driving is, it does not replace the mechanical brake. For a real emergency stop or in emergency situations, you still press the brake pedal [3]. This is precisely why a mechanical braking option remains legally required in every electric car.

The brake lights are also clearly regulated. If your car decelerates strongly enough through regenerative braking alone, the brake lights switch on automatically and warn following traffic, even if your foot never touches the brake pedal. The UN/ECE regulation requires this brake signal from a deceleration of 1.3 m/s², while below 0.7 m/s² it may remain off [3].

In winter, restraint is worthwhile. On snow and ice, very strong regenerative braking can cause the driven wheels to skid, which is why it is better to reduce the level on slippery roads. And don't worry if the first few kilometres still feel unfamiliar: After a short adjustment period, the controlled use of the right pedal quickly becomes second nature.

How to Drive Particularly Efficiently

With a few simple habits, you can get the most out of the technology:

• Adjust the regenerative braking strength to the situation, stronger in the city and gentler on the motorway.
• Drive anticipatively and coast early instead of braking late and hard.
• Reduce the level in wet conditions, snow and ice.

You can also read about how strongly the route you drive affects your consumption in our article on EV consumption in the city, on country roads and on the motorway.

Drive Efficiently, Charge Fast with JOLT

No matter how much energy you recover with regenerative braking and one-pedal driving, you cannot do without charging entirely. And this is exactly where we come in: JOLT brings ultra-fast charging right into the city, where your everyday life takes place. With up to 320 kW of charging power, our stations add around 200 km of range in about 10 minutes and are available around the clock. This is made possible by integrated battery storage, which enables ultra-fast charging without costly grid expansion. Use one-pedal driving for efficient journeys and JOLT for a quick charging stop in between. Our guide to EV range shows you how far you can really travel on a single charge.

Find your nearest JOLT charging station now and discover how easily efficient driving and fast charging go together!

Sources

1. ADAC: Regenerative braking in electric cars, https://www.adac.de/rund-ums-fahrzeug/elektromobilitaet/elektroauto/rekuperation-elektroauto/
2. ADAC (Press): Electric cars recover up to 40 percent of energy, https://presse.adac.de/meldungen/adac-ev/technik/e-autos-gewinnen-bis-zu-40-prozent-energie-zurueck.html
3. Wikipedia: One-Pedal Driving, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-Pedal-Driving
4. elektroauto-news.net: One-Pedal Driving, https://www.elektroauto-news.net/news/one-pedal-driving