EV motors can add energy in either direction of rotation, or remove energy from the existing rotation.
Regenerative braking is removing energy, and yes you must be moving for it to “regenerate” energy. You are correct that it can’t hold you in place without adding energy, you’d roll forward very slowly.
However if you look up how these motors work, the same magnets that are timed to make the motor run can be used to lock the motor in place by adjusting which electromagnets are powered. So the onboard computer detects when motion is slow enough for regenerative to stop working and switches over to magnetic locking, which does burn a bit of energy.
EV motors can add energy in either direction of rotation, or remove energy from the existing rotation.
Regenerative braking is removing energy, and yes you must be moving for it to “regenerate” energy. You are correct that it can’t hold you in place without adding energy, you’d roll forward very slowly.
However if you look up how these motors work, the same magnets that are timed to make the motor run can be used to lock the motor in place by adjusting which electromagnets are powered. So the onboard computer detects when motion is slow enough for regenerative to stop working and switches over to magnetic locking, which does burn a bit of energy.