Very Impressed--Test Drive Yesterday

I am excited about the vehicle, for some reason. Rapid charging if it's only at a charging station will not be used by most users anyway.

 

I test drove one Saturday. What a fun little car. Handles nicely, has adequate pickup, pretty nice interior.

the real awesome thing: being able to set schedules to turn on your heater/ac. Like "M-F 7am"

 

If AC is standard, and nearly every car on a dealer lot has the option, why not just use heat pump? Are they just not available in car size?

 

EVs have long used heat pumps for heating. It still takes a lot of power on a cold day.

Tom

 

You would think nothing generates heat in an EV. How about a liquid coolant running through a heat sink type of exchanger. I know the battery must generate some heat and need cooling? I'm no EV engineer so I'm sure if there is an efficent way they will find it.

 

How about a heater that uses gasoline? Aren't heaters that burn fossil fuels extremely efficient (90%+)? Just put a small gasoline tank in the car (maybe a gallon or two) and use that to heat the car in the winter. Would that work?

 

Works fine, it's called the Volt

 

Nissan opted to go with air cooling for the battery to reduce cost and weight.
Ford will use liquid cooling in the upcoming Focus. No reason for it not to use a traditional heater core. It will also have active heating to keep the battery at the right temperature for charging. That, and making use of waste heat, should give it a higher minimum range than the Leaf, or least a less variable one.

 

In the UK there is only one trim Level and the 'fast charge' capability comes built in as standard. Strange decision by Nissan for the USA version.

 

[Yes, I know this was meant as humor.]

Efficiency isn't the problem. While a gas heater sized for a car might get 80% efficiency, electric resistance heat will get near 100%, and a heat pump up around 300% (yes). The problem is energy density. A single gallon of gasoline has the energy equivalent of 33 kWh. That is 18 hours of charging from a standard US house current (15 amps @ 120 volts) charger.

p.s. PLEASE don't even think of heating with gasoline! Very dangerous.

 

I think pEEf's EV van he sold a couple months back had a kerosene heater on board. makes perfect sense in real cold weather areas.

 

No it wasn't meant as humor but I did not mean to literally put a gasoline heater in the car. What I meant was that engineers could design an electric car with a small gasoline tank (or propane or whatever) and use that fuel as a source of energy for heating the car. Then the battery could be preserved for range since winter range is still a problem in cold weather climates.