A pedal drive system (10), in particular for an electric vehicle or a training apparatus, and for generating electrical power from muscle power of a user with at least one pedal (11) and an electric generator (13) connected mechanically with said at least one pedal, is provided. To improve the haptic feel and feedback at the pedal, a control unit (30) is provided for controlling a feedback torque,applied at said pedal, wherein the control unit comprises a haptic renderer (31) configured for control of said feedback torque based on at least one predefined pedal reference trajectory.