Giga Factories and Battery Companies

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I heard about this on a podcast awhile back. If I find it I will post it.

Introduction

Electrical motors are reversible machines; they can function as motors or as generators. A motor receives electrical power from a battery and transforms it in torque developing a Counter Electromotive Force CEMF (also known as Back EMF or BEMF), which opposes the battery. A generator receives mechanical power from a mechanical actuator and transforms it in electrical power developing a Counter Torque, which opposes the actuator.

A motor behaves as motor and as generator at the same time. In fact while a motor is 'motoring', that is doing mechanical work, it generates CEMF acting as generator, although the CEMF is lower than the battery voltage so the motor acts as a load and absorbs current.

In certain situations the CEMF may overcome the battery, in which case the generator component becomes dominant; the motor acts as a generator inverting the direction of its current and forcing it into the battery.

The typical situation is the one of a heavy vehicle rolling on a sharp downhill slope and forcing the motor to turn fast enough that the CEMF becomes larger than the battery voltage. As soon as the motor overcomes the battery it inverts the current direction and starts feeding current into the battery, while developing a counter torque that acts as a brake. This phase is called regeneration (recharging of the battery).

https://www.roboteq.com/applications/all-blogs/22-understanding-regeneration