Barcelona is using the regenerative braking of its subways to power trains, stations, and neighborhood EV chargers. Could New York do it too?
      • wewbull@feddit.ukEnglish
        1·
        4 months ago

        Leaving the train at 1/3rd the speed it decelerated from?

        What’s really happening:

        • Barcelona want to use regen braking to reduce power usage of their metro - this is good.

        • Adding batteries to store all that energy for 30seconds at each stop is impractical in some way. It makes the train too heavy / They can’t charge quick enough / The charging loss is too high. So, they go for a smaller battery.

        • The electrical grid gets the rest of the energy dumped into it, only to supply it back to the train when it accelerates again. They use the grid like a battery.

        • Some public relations person heard this and issued a press release - “Barcelona using metro as power station”.

        • Every engineer working on the project simultaneously groans in despair. The resulting low frequency wave shakes the foundations of Sagrada Família, setting the construction back another generation.