Patent 8258727 was granted and assigned to International Rectifier (company) on September, 2012 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The regenerative torque shifter is a system for electric/hybrid electric vehicles that includes a driver-operated control device mounted in the vehicle and a control unit linked to a motor controller. The driver sets a level of regenerative braking desired by manipulating the control device. Based on output from the control device, the control unit directs the motor controller to apply a corresponding level of regenerative braking action by varying the amount of load seen by the motor.