GCR: Can heat pumps solve cold-weather range loss for EVs?

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:lol: I mainly wanted to post a topic with "heat pump" in the title that covered the basics so we could point newbies in the right direction with a simpler search. The articIe does cover that, so we don't have to search through the text of multiple posts to find what we want, or re-write a post that we've already written multiple times.
 
It's certainly generic, but it does have some numbers so we can point people to it and hopefully save some repetition, e.g. https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=30029&p=564709&hilit=hybrid+heater#p564709

Here's some old links that have graphs or text showing the relative efficiency of the LEAF, Soul and Prime heat pumps vs. resistive heaters.

LEAF: https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=11348#p261849

Soul: https://insideevs.com/presentation-new- ... slideshow/

Prime: https://insideevs.com/toyota-prius-prim ... 1-in-cold/
 
The short version:
Heat pumps are great when it is sort of cold (from just barely needing heat to around freezing).
They are useless when it is really cold (below about -10°C).
If you need reliable long range in a cold climate, there is no substitute for more batteries
If you can live with severely reduced range for the month or two when it is very cold, a heat pump will allow you to maintain near summer range for the 5-6 months when it is only sort of cold.
 
If you can live with severely reduced range for the month or two when it is very cold, a heat pump will allow you to maintain near summer range for the 5-6 months when it is only sort of cold.

Huh? The number of months in which a heat pump will be effective most of the time is more like ten - more like eleven if you just go by the number of frigid days in a typical upper-half US Winter.
 
I was thinking 2 months of cold where range will suck regardless and 4 months of late spring / summer / early fall when you don't need heat at all, leaving about 6 months where you will be thankful you bought a car with a heat pump.
 
Titanium48 said:
I was thinking 2 months of cold where range will suck regardless and 4 months of late spring / summer / early fall when you don't need heat at all, leaving about 6 months where you will be thankful you bought a car with a heat pump.

Ah, got it. Although for me it's more like two months in which I use little or no heat.
 
If your climate's like coastal CA/OR/WA, heat pumps are great. Tropical/subtropical climates such as Florida you don't need it, and everywhere else the advantage varies between those extremes.
 
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