[amluto]

At least last time I checked, Teslas had rather anemic battery heaters. IIRC they’re around 6kW.

6kW is not enough to make a big dent in required mechanical braking, and it’s also not enough to quickly heat the battery pack, especially when operated intermittently.

[gnicholas]

I thought GP was referring to generating heat for HVAC, which is an interesting idea. I assume one challenge would be getting the warmth from the brakes to the cabin.

[amluto]

A gadget to recover heat from a disk brake would certainly be interesting, but it sounds complex, messy and expensive.

A bigger battery/coolant loop heater sounds more straightforward — the mechanism to convert kinetic energy to current is already there.

[Scoundreller]

Yeah, from what I've read, Tesla max regen is 60+kw. Does it just lockout regen braking until the battery pack is "receptive"?

[amluto]

It limits max regen power, and the limit is variable. There’s a cute little indicator on the dash.