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Chassis dynamometers are important equipment to perform vehicular experiments in the automotive industry. Usually, these equipments are used according to standard procedures for emissions, fuel consumption, and performance analyses. In this paper, an alternative procedure was developed to experimentally determine the dynamometer inertia and losses related to bearings and transmission systems. Furthermore, a study on the tires rolling resistance, considering a double tire-roller contact, was carried out. The experiments were performed in a 4x2 chassis dynamometer with four rollers, equipped with an eddy current brake (coupled to a transmission reducer of 2.5 instrumented with a 3000 Nm torque flange) and with a 30 CV AC electric motor (coupled to a planetary transmission with reduction of 4.43 and instrumented with a 500 Nm torque flange). The dynamometer was also instrumented with an encoder system for speed measurement.

The need for improved fuel economy for road vehicles has increased the interest in hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) and recovering vehicle energy. This paper aims to evaluate the amount of kinetic energy that could be restored through regenerative braking in a HEV. This work will not resort the Brazilian urban driving cycle NBR 6601, for this cycle does not fully represent a pattern of traffic faced regularly in urban areas, which is typically composed of heavy traffic and long periods of idleness. Therefore, a new drive cycle will be developed that better represents the Brazilian traffic. Also, considering the shortage of energy resources, the large amount of energy dissipated as heat during braking a vehicle is a recurring concern. Therefore, measuring the maximum available energy that could be restored through regenerative braking is the first step towards estimating the profit of using this technology and how it would pay off the investment in the long run.