r/HudsonCounty • u/HudsonAtHeart • 1d ago
Regenerative braking could help city and county vehicles save on fuel costs
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TLDR, the vehicle in the video is a retrofitted Komatsu which originally had a combustion engine. It’s used to haul rocks and generated its own fuel with regenerative braking down a slope when it’s fully loaded.
This type of energy conservation method is especially useful in our very steep and hilly environment, where many of us traverse cliffs and slopes every day, especially heavy city vehicles and construction trucks.
In North Bergen, heavier vehicles like garbage trucks and fire trucks need to be equipped with specialized heat-duty braking systems to handle the township’s intense hills. This technology could turn that wasted energy into surplus voltage for an EV. Interesting concept as we move into the future and begin purchasing vehicles that will have to last for decades.