Heat Pumps Improve EV Range in Cold Weather

[alarmguy]

I wonder how effective the heat pumps are when it's extremely cold though

Yes, it will be hard to find those numbers in real world testing for some time. The recent cold snap has been an unpleasant experience as far as range for a lot of EV owners and why S. Korea just fined Tesla.
Other people in this country reported the same unpleasant experience, even owners in this forum. Now it's entirely possible all these cars did not have heat pumps but the car companies have not warned the public properly in that case as far as the range penalty.

Time will tell how economical a heat pump can be made to have the cars competitive with gasoline and to verify the claims made for the heat pumps.

I say this because not solely related to a post in here but some other "news" story claims about the heat pumps, we want to know the actual test results.
Saying down to 14f sounds great, but is the sun out? Is the car stationary or moving at 80 MPH?
In each one of those conditions what will be the actual temperature in the car? I saw one reference 65 degrees to em that is not comforting.
These are all valid questions to ask when reading stories without the complete data.

 

[Jetronic]

“The system conducts thermodynamic arbitrage from finite source thermodynamic sources and has the ability to augment those finite sources “

https://insideevs.com/news/452464/tesla-model-y-heat-pump-system-details/

thanks for the link.

as expected, below -10°C COP = 1 so the same efficiency as resistive heating. I wouldn't have called -10°C extreme cold though

 

[UncleDave]

thanks for the link.

as expected, below -10°C COP = 1 so the same efficiency as resistive heating. I wouldn't have called -10°C extreme cold though

Same COP, but different enablement.
They have to draw a dividing line between modes at some temp.
Not sure how -10 was selected as that dividing line.

same COP in that particular mode - once you move away from that - COP improves.

 

[Jetronic]

That would be dictated by the refrigerant used

 

[UncleDave]

Comprehensive test information about EV's and heat pumps is easy to find and been around for years.

Bjorn test them in all kinds of conditions, camping, measured drives between locations at set speeds with both heat pump and non heat pump versions - but there are many others.



https://www.youtube.com/@bjornnyland/search?query=heat pump

 

[nthach]

I suspect that you're trying to be funny, but just in case you've posted because you're unfamiliar with the technology, here's an article with pictures to help you understand the setup. Tesla's been using heat pumps for several years now. I've posted a pic just to make it a bit easier for you to see that Mr. Goldberg's expertise is sorely lacking here.

https://insideevs.com/news/482829/all-tesla-vehicles-heat-pump/

Toyota also went to a heat pump setup on the Prime PHEV variants of the Prius and RAV4. In those causes, it allows for cabin heat without running the ICE(it will fire up the gas engine as a boost if need be). No need for a coolant heat recovery system - not sure if Toyota banished it from the PP/RAV4P.

The Tesla Octovalve is a clever attempt at packaging. The Toyota system is still a mess of pipes and hoses.

 

[Torrid]

Yes, but does the system have resistive heating aswell for when it's too cold for the heat pump to be effective? I'm sure it does and that explains it working really good. Except range will suffer just as the battery isn't in any mood to play.

I assume that resistive heat is used too because I have heat extremely quickly even in below 0. Range does suffer of course. I haven't tried to take a longer trip in the cold, but I mostly drive the Tesla around town. Comfort is excellent in this regard because of this. I'm not opposed to using the Tesla on longer trips and I do on occasion, but it's really my wife's main daily and most of my longer trips are work related so they're done mostly in the GTI.

 

[bbhero]

Yes, it will be hard to find those numbers in real world testing for some time. The recent cold snap has been an unpleasant experience as far as range for a lot of EV owners and why S. Korea just fined Tesla.
Other people in this country reported the same unpleasant experience, even owners in this forum. Now it's entirely possible all these cars did not have heat pumps but the car companies have not warned the public properly in that case as far as the range penalty.

Time will tell how economical a heat pump can be made to have the cars competitive with gasoline and to verify the claims made for the heat pumps.

I say this because not solely related to a post in here but some other "news" story claims about the heat pumps, we want to know the actual test results.
Saying down to 14f sounds great, but is the sun out? Is the car stationary or moving at 80 MPH?
In each one of those conditions what will be the actual temperature in the car? I saw one reference 65 degrees to em that is not comforting.
These are all valid questions to ask when reading stories without the complete data.

Really good post here in my opinion .

The magical EVs cannot hardly be charged at all when temperatures get into or lower than mid 20s… and Zero charging below 14 degrees F.

Range goes down a whole lot too. Duh… Shocker alert… Batteries lose capacity with temperature being lower. Just like motor oil gets exponentially thicker as temps get really colder.

Go to Battery University Cadex website.

Read about the limitations of these batteries. Learn about their positives and downsides.

 

[4wd]

Really good post here in my opinion .

The magical EVs cannot hardly be charged at all when temperatures get into or lower than mid 20s… and Zero charging below 14 degrees F.

Range goes down a whole lot too. Duh… Shocker alert… Batteries lose capacity with temperature being lower. Just like motor oil gets exponentially thicker as temps get really colder.

Go to Battery University Cadex website.

Read about the limitations of these batteries. Learn about their positives and downsides.

Waiting for the 2024 Congo Coupe …