Consider a thrusting rocket, looked at in a frame where its exhaust is stationary. The reaction mass is accelerated backwards from v=v_r to v=0, losing kinetic energy, which is added (together with energy supplied by the fuel) to the rocket’s KE. It seems to me that this is basically the same situation.
You’re of course right in the vehicle frame; I’m not sure yet how best to think about that.
In the road frame, it is.
Consider a thrusting rocket, looked at in a frame where its exhaust is stationary. The reaction mass is accelerated backwards from v=v_r to v=0, losing kinetic energy, which is added (together with energy supplied by the fuel) to the rocket’s KE. It seems to me that this is basically the same situation.
You’re of course right in the vehicle frame; I’m not sure yet how best to think about that.