Regenerative Braking Effective in Cutting Carbon Emissions

Every year, air pollution directly or indirectly kills 7 million people, as per the World Health Organization (WHO). Since the transportation sector is a major culprit here, countries around the world have begun framing policies to cut down the carbon emissions from automobiles. For this, cleaner fuels are being mandated, such as those under the Euro 6 and Bharat Stage VI norms, and electric vehicles (EV) are being promoted. Another technology that has proved effective in reducing carbon emissions is regenerative braking systems.

According to, P&S Intelligence, with the continued government efforts to clean up the environment, the automotive regenerative braking systems market will witness substantial growth from $6,555.6 million in 2017 to $18,228.3 million by 2023, at a high 18.6% CAGR between 2017 and 2023. In conventional brakes, the brake pad pushes against the brake disc on all wheels to make it stop spinning with the help of plain-old friction. During this process, the energy generated while slowing down the wheels simply dissipates into the environment as heat.

Due to similar limits in other countries, the RBS technology is being used in passenger cars, as well as commercial vehicles, around the world. Of these, the use of this technology is more prominent in passenger cars, because the demand for them and their production figures are higher than those of commercial vehicles, with the former accounting for up to 70% of the automobiles manufactured in a year. Moreover, with the increasing demand for hybrid electric cars, the integration rate of RBS in passenger cars has been traditionally higher.

Presently, Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the most-productive automotive regenerative braking systems market on account of being the largest vehicle producer and buyer in the world. With the increasing demand for hybrid electric vehicles and battery electric vehicles that offer a longer driving range, the demand for RBSs among regional automakers will continue booming. In EVs, the RBS charges the main battery, which keeps replenishing the charge, thus reducing the need to charge it via a dedicated charging station. China, South Korea, Japan, India, and Singapore are offering strong support for EVs, which will raise the demand for RBS.

Thus, with the growing need to curb the carbon emission from vehicles, more of them would come equipped with regenerative braking systems in the coming years.

Source: P&S Intelligence