Abstract: Because the hydraulic retarder has the shortcomings of complicated structure and high price, a new type of eddy current retarder was proposed, including stator with internal cooled channel and doubly salient poles rotor. A braking system model was established. The electromagnetic field was analyzed by static and transient finite element method. Distribution regularity of electromagnetic field and braking characteristics were obtained. A 2 000 N·m prototype was tested to verify the braking performance at a test bench. The test results show that the difference between the calculated and the measured results is below 5%. The braking torque reaches a stable value at 750 r/ min. When the speed is 1 000 r/ min and exciting current is 90 A, the braking torque reaches 2 030 N·m.