Electric Car (EV) Interior Heaters | Motoring discussion

Despite what we're told about petrol/diesel being phased out sooner than was thought we're all still uncertain about so much associated with dependance on them - and despite having looked through much of the above, it's still not clear to me how we'll get on with EVs in a properly cold winter and I still haven't grasped how the heater actually works. I've seen the terms " resistive heater" and "heat pumps" but, sadly, I'm too stupid to make sense of either.

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A couple of years on .... the onward march of EVs hasn't waned, in fact quite the opposite, apparently.

THREAD REVIVAL ALERT! Electric Car (EV) Interior Heaters - Bromptonaut

I've seen the terms " resistive heater" and "heat pumps"

Not that bright but I've read a bit today about heat pumps in a household environment. Think air conditioning in reverse- heat is sucked from the air outside and used to heat the car.

I'd guess a resistive heater is using leccy to warm wires - like a fan heater.

Either can run while the car is charging and potentially store heat either in a liquid or blocks similar to those in a storage heater. If that gets the car warm before setting off, and can keep it that way without recourse to leccy that might otherwise be available to the motors for an hour, then that's enough for a hell of a lot of people's commutes.

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THREAD REVIVAL ALERT! Electric Car (EV) Interior Heaters - KB.

You could be right.

Either way the whole EV thing sounds mighty complex for the average Joe when lights start appearing on the dash just as he's about to leave for Midnight Mass in the cold and wet.

I think I'll put the whole thing off until either (a) I'm forced to adopt it (by which time, hopefully, there'll be enough people around who understand it and can overcome the sundry problems that'll occur) - or (b) I'm no longer extant and don't have to worry about it any more.

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THREAD REVIVAL ALERT! Electric Car (EV) Interior Heaters - Terry W

Radical solution for those worried about being caught in snow or a bit of cold.

Keep a thick coat, blanket, a few bars of chocolate, and a couple of bottles of water in the boot. Will keep you warm, fed and irrigated for 12 hours!

The water may freeze if it gets really cold so perhaps vodka would be an alternative solution.

Alternatively you could join the numpties who, after having been advised of severe weather, simply think that they are immune from snowdrifts - just stay at home.

With apologies to the less than 5% who genuinely live in truly remote areas.

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THREAD REVIVAL ALERT! Electric Car (EV) Interior Heaters - Avant

Fear not, KB: I'm sure you'd have the good sense to charge the EV up on Christmas Eve!

At least in theory, there should be fewer things to go wrong with an EV than an ICE car, so one would hope fewer reasons for the Christmas tree to light up on the dashboard.

That said, we haven't seen a Land Rover EV yet....

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THREAD REVIVAL ALERT! Electric Car (EV) Interior Heaters - focussed

I'm not particularly bright but a "resistive heater" sounds like a heater with a resistive element - like your common or garden mains powered fan heater.

Heat pumps are in effect a refrigerator running backwards. The cold bit like the inside of your 'fridge is outside the car being warmed up by outside heat - (you hope in a scottish blizzard!) and the warm bit is comparable to the condenser element at the back of your 'fridge which gets hot and which presumably is inside the car to hopefully warm you and the windscreen up.

But why on earth any manufacturer would go the expense and complication of a heat pump system to provide heat for a car interior. is beyond me.

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THREAD REVIVAL ALERT! Electric Car (EV) Interior Heaters - bathtub tom

I understand the electrical system of an EV generates quite a bit of heat. How much of that can be used to heat the cabin, I don't know.

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THREAD REVIVAL ALERT! Electric Car (EV) Interior Heaters - focussed

I understand the electrical system of an EV generates quite a bit of heat. How much of that can be used to heat the cabin, I don't know.

I was reading up on fuel cell EV's fuelled by hydrogen and they are only about 40% efficient in the fuel cell, so they need a cooling system, more than enough heat available for interior heating, The battery EV's I don't know either!

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THREAD REVIVAL ALERT! Electric Car (EV) Interior Heaters - Chris79

I drove my 2020 Ioniq full electric to work today, when I left at 6am it was 8c outside and the range showed as 183 miles. I would estimate the 100% range has decreased by around 15 miles since the temperature has dropped, it used to show some where between 196-200 when fully charged.

i drove to work (45 miles), a minute of 60% dual carriageway and 40% a roads. I didn’t push it and left the car in eco mode rather than normal or sport.

the heated seats remained on for the whole journey along with the heated steering wheel, the fan setting was on 1 (minimum) and temperature set to 21c.

Once on the dual carriageways I sat at 60 with the adaptive cruise control on and when I reached work the range was 140 miles left. In effect I’d used 43 miles of range for 45 miles of actual journey.

it is true to say I have made compromises now I drive an EV. Before in my diesel I’d have whacked the heater to full, had it set on an higher fan setting and driven faster with less concern for gentle acceleration, that said I wasn’t in a hurry so it didn’t make one jot of difference.

would I have run out of battery if I’d been stuck in traffic for hours with the heater on, ultimately yes but it’s not a pressing concern of mine.

at the moment it is costing me £3.35 to put a 100 miles of charge in the car, as opposed to roughly £10.35 of diesel working on 50mpg and £1.15 a litre.

The car (leased) is costing me 306£ a month inclusive of everything bar electricity and as it is by salary sacrifice there is an income tax saving associated with it.

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on this basis at the moment it is an absolute no brainer, how long the BiK holiday will last is another matter but for now I’m making hay whilst the sun shines.

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THREAD REVIVAL ALERT! Electric Car (EV) Interior Heaters - madf

I understand the electrical system of an EV generates quite a bit of heat. How much of that can be used to heat the cabin, I don't know.

All vehicle with batteries used for motion (EVs and hybrids) have battery cooling systems.

I believe in most cases driven by air and exhausted into the outside

(In the case of the Ford Kuga EV, not very well designed with fires resulting from overheating. Now redesigned and being retrofitted Typical of a company poor at testing new products)

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THREAD REVIVAL ALERT! Electric Car (EV) Interior Heaters - KB.

Whilst thanking those who replied, I don't think I'm any wiser with regard to knowing how EV heaters work.

The heater on an ICE is simlicity itself to understand (even if getting to the matrix behind the dashboard isn't) ... but i haven't understood how an EV heater works. Maybe the simple explanation is it's just an element like a fan heater? If it's that simple then so be it.

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THREAD REVIVAL ALERT! Electric Car (EV) Interior Heaters - edlithgow

The heater on an ICE is simlicity itself to understand (even if getting to the matrix behind the dashboard isn't) .

Mine isn't.

There's no matrix, so I THINK any heating provision must be via the aircon system.

Which I don't understand and have never used.

If there's a sudden global cooling I'll be in big trouble. Might have to wear a jacket.

If I was from Newcastle, I wouldn't be able to do that, and I'd die.

Edited by edlithgow on 01/12/2020 at 00:20

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THREAD REVIVAL ALERT! Electric Car (EV) Interior Heaters - galileo

The heater on an ICE is simlicity itself to understand (even if getting to the matrix behind the dashboard isn't) .

Mine isn't.

There's no matrix, so I THINK any heating provision must be via the aircon system.

Which I don't understand and have never used.

If there's a sudden global cooling I'll be in big trouble. Might have to wear a jacket.

If I was from Newcastle, I wouldn't be able to do that, and I'd die.

Your last sentence is so true, my son went to Newcastle Uni but used to go out in shirt sleeves when it snowed at home in the West Riding anyway.

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THREAD REVIVAL ALERT! Electric Car (EV) Interior Heaters - bathtub tom

If I was from Newcastle, I wouldn't be able to do that, and I'd die.

Not if you had a gender re-assignment, put on a massive amount of weight and wore a mini-skirt.

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Although there are now more than 53,000 U.S. public charging locations, most of them are Level 2 chargers—the same kind you’d have installed at home—and take many hours to fully charge a battery (more on that below). 

If you’re on a long road trip, you’ll most likely want to charge at publicly accessible DC fast chargers. These are becoming more common, even if they aren’t as ubiquitous or easy to use as gas stations. Most of them are available off major highways or at rest areas. 

How easy they are to use can often depend on what kind of vehicle you drive and brand of charger you’re trying to use. Tesla owners have access to a wide network of Tesla Supercharger charging stations, and we have found that they make topping up a Tesla seamless, convenient, and relatively quick. Owners of other EVs rely on a patchwork of chargers that aren’t always convenient to access, might not always charge rapidly, and usually require the user to fumble through an app or swipe a credit card to activate the charger. (Some—but not all—Tesla Superchargers are opening up to owners of EVs from other brands.) Nissan Leaf owners will have to search for a fast charger with a specific kind of plug, called CHAdeMO, which isn’t used by any other new pure EV sold in the U.S. 

Many automakers have said their vehicles will be compatible with some Tesla Superchargers starting in 2024. We’re keeping a close eye on this development. 

Plugging in a vehicle can require more physical effort than gassing up a car, too, especially if you have to drag a heavy cord to reach the car’s charging port. There are no “full serve” charging stations, and because EVs have their charging ports installed in various places on the vehicle, not all chargers are conveniently set up for a charging cord to reach the outlet.

Before you go on a trip, download apps that can help, such as those from the ChargePoint and Electrify America charging networks. PlugShare is helpful for locating public chargers, too. Some vehicles have charging station data built into their navigation systems and can send you on a route that includes fast chargers. A Better Route Planner is a great smartphone app alternative that will help you plan trips with included charge stops. Always have a backup plan in case a charger isn’t working or takes longer to charge than you expect.

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