Electric "Heater In a Box" System

I did my first "road test' of the portable heater this evening. I used my Leaf, but will be testing it in the PIP next. Considering that it was 5 to 9F outside (and about that to start with in the car), and considering that I was only able to use both heaters for about 4 minutes because of the limitations of my little deep cycle battery, the test was a success. I placed both heaters on the floor in front of the driver's seat, facing forward toward the pedals and duct-taped in place, and ran both for the first four minutes, then turned one off and used the remaining 200 watt 120 volt heater for the rest of the 1/2 hour drive. I tried to measure interior temperature, but it's possible that the little Chinese clock/thermometer I used stops at 0 degrees C. Either that or I was actually able to maintain 0C (32F) for the whole drive. The important thing is that my legs felt warm, and with the seat heater on (low) and the Leaf's steering wheel heater on, I was reasonably comfortable. I used the car's climate control to defrost the windshield for 10-30 seconds every 5 minutes or so, and used the heater for two minutes at about the halfway point. I'm pretty cold-blooded, so if I wasn't too uncomfortable, most people should find the portable system usable as well.

A few guesstimate stats:

Trip time: 29 minutes

Battery power used: 10AH

Climate control runtime, with heat: about 3 minutes

Climate control runtime, fan only: about 15 minutes

Reduction in car heater use: approximately 25 minute reduction over 29 minute trip

For some reason the Edit screen is coming up with no post in it, so I'll add this, written at the Leaf forum when I posted there:

Again, the idea isn't to heat the car's interior. The idea is to create a 'bubble' of heat around the driver's legs, rising up somewhat around the driver to increase comfort in the otherwise cold cabin. It appears to work. (In the Leaf, at least.)

Before I try this in the PIP: do I remember correctly, that if I set the PIP's climate control temp to "Low" I can use the ventilation system without the ICE running? Or will it start just from me turning a fan on? I assume I can at least use passive ventilation with the vents on the Low/Defrost setting?

 

But what about floor/Defrost? That doesn't run the A/C automatically.

 

Thanks.

 

Yes, it's just too expensive and complex to add pack capacity. Although really, that isn't even needed: if we want to trade EV range for heat in EV mode, Toyota should offer an electric heater option. How many here would pay an extra $1k for a heater that would let you travel say, 8 miles in Winter, with heat, with no ICE running? 12 volt heaters that use accessory socket amperage just can't provide enough heat for comfort. My auxiliary heater is for the express purpose of providing modest heat (mainly for the driver, or the driver and front seat passenger) in EV mode, without starting the ICE. It is for short trips only, although in theory, with an adequate battery, it could provide heat for an hour or more.