TECH: TOPICS
During previous instalments in our series focusing on technology being used in the design and production of Porsches present and future, we detailed how the chemistry of a lithium-ion battery makes it possible to recharge a battery pack thousands of times with only slight degradation. We also examined what happens inside a battery when an electric vehicle is plugged into an external charger, reversing the process in which energy is drawn from the battery. This isn't the only way to charge an electric car's battery, though — on the move, when slowing or braking, it's also possible to use the vehicle's kinetic energy.
Kinetic energy is a fundamental concept in physics describing the energy an object possesses because of its motion. Specifically, kinetic energy is defined as the energy an object has as a consequence of its velocity, and is a scalar quantity proportional to the mass of the object and the square of its velocity. The formula for kinetic energy is E =, where represents kinetic energy, is the mass of the object and is its velocity. This equation demonstrates how the kinetic energy of a car increases with its mass and the square of its velocity.
