Heat pumps in electric cars efficiently heat the cabin and battery by moving heat from the outside. This increases the winter range. The initial cost is higher, but they are cheaper to maintain than gas-powered cars. Where heat pumps are needed depends on the weather. Places with colder winters need them the most. There are times when heat pumps are not required, even though electric cars come with climate control and heaters.
What Is a Heat Pump?
Most of us have something like a refrigerator in our homes, but not all of us have a heat pump. A fridge sends refrigerant gas into a compressor, which works like a pump and moves the gas through a condenser, which is a set of tubes. The condenser squeezes the gas, which turns it into a liquid and sends heat out into the space around it. The liquid then goes into an evaporator, which takes in heat from the air around it and turns it back into a liquid. The evaporator takes heat from inside the fridge in this case.
Heat pump take the same steps, but they use a different method. The heat that the fan gives off is good for you.
How Does An Electric Car’s heat pump work?
A heat pump in an electric vehicle (EV) gets air from outside the car, compresses it, and then sends the heat from the condenser into the main cabin. This heat either warms the air around everyone inside, or it warms the battery, which doesn’t like being cold either.
EVs that don’t have a heat pump usually use a type of passive heating instead. Running an electric current through a medium that resists it causes friction, which turns into heat. Since all of the power is turns into heat, this process works very well. But because it moves heat from one place to another, a heat pump can give off more heat than it takes in.
A Heat Pump Increases Winter Range
This is because electric cars have less range in the winter. In this way, they’re not the only ones. During winter, gas-power cars also get a worse gas economy, but since many cars only have fuel gauges that go from E to F and there are lots of gas stations, we don’t really notice. In the winter, an electric car’s range can drop from 250 miles in the summer to less than 200 miles. This, along with problems with charging EVs in public places, makes range anxiety worse.
With a heat pump, your range drops less in the winter. You won’t be able to drive as far as you can in the warmer months because lithium batteries don’t work as well when it’s cold outside. To drive, on the other hand, you can save more energy by heating your car’s cabin and battery pack with less power. There is a model with a heat pump and one without. The model with the heat pump will go a little farther in the winter before it needs to be charged again.
It costs more to buy a heat pump
Companies charge more for cars with heat pumps because the systems are more complicated. They have more parts, which means more things to make and more parts that could break (though electric cars are still cheaper to fix than gas-powered cars).
In the end, heat pumps are usually in with passive heating. That way, you can still warm up your car even if it’s too cold outside. From a technical point of view, a heat pump is not necessary.
Need a Heat Pump for Your Electric Car?
Where you live has a lot to do with whether or not a heat pump will help you. If you live in a snowy area, you need an electric car with a heat pump, even if your resistance heater has to work when it’s very cold. A heat pump is a good idea even if your winters aren’t really cold (just warm enough for a jacket).
On the other hand, the gain won’t be very great if your winters are so mild that you barely use the heater. If your car model lets you, you might be better off spending the extra money on something else.
