I tried the heater out a while back and didn't think it was working. I was kind of afraid of this huge draw on the electrical system after reading how dramatically wasteful the heater is. So I didn't leave it on all that long. I did shift into D, thinking that ECO might also be shy about turning on the heat.
But it seems a watched pot never boils. The first time it came on by itself (left it set to Auto, and it was cool out) I eventually noticed it was getting warmer in the car. When I looked over at the gauges,
then I saw that 3-4 kW draw everyone was talking about. So, it seems, the secret is
patience.
Surprise #1: I tried out the remote climate control for the first time last week. I didn't run it very long in advance of getting in the car (five minutes, maybe), but when I got in, it was
warm in there! That thing works when it puts its mind to it!
Surprise #2: The (nav) screen tells me that using the heater will cost me 5 miles or so. Well, that's the same or less than the air conditioner was telling me in the summer! They say the heater is four times hungrier than the A/C, yet the range effect estimates are largely the same? Somebody's mistaken here. (Probably the screen, if Carwings is involved in any way
)
Other things I have observed:
- The c.c. power gauge is heavily damped. It takes 10-15 seconds before the reading settles.
- The heater "warms up" before it comes on...just like in an ICE vehicle.
- The heat generally doesn't come out the vents, rather it comes out near the floor.
- The "mode" (where the air comes out...in Auto, of course) changes with temperature setting. If you watch the screen, you can see the "arrows" (face or feet) change as you adjust the temperature. When the temperature setting is very near that of the interior, it comes out the "face" vents. When the separation is large, it comes out the floor vents. In between, it will use both. You can use this display to determine what it thinks the interior temperature is. (Wouldn't it be slick to just, well, you know,
tell us the temperature instead of making us hunt for it...?)