Electric car climate control

[boater sam]

Being a bit old fashioned and out of date I have a question about electric cars.

When we are all forced to use a battery powered vehicle, how do we run a cabin heater or air con? Will I have cold feet?
There were never heaters on milk floats I recall.

[Refugee]

In short you wait in a queue at a charging point in the freezing cold or blistering heat.
Modern trucks have have heating in the bedroom over the cab that burns diesel however an all electric car will not have such a heater. It just cuts the range down by a significant amount.

[boater sam]

In which case they are unsuitable for four fifths of the planet, where is too hot or too cold.
Will they ever catch on?
Now I see that they have to make a noise all the time to warn pedestrians, its a flawed technology.

[Nick]

In which case they are unsuitable for four fifths of the planet, where is too hot or too cold.
Will they ever catch on?
Now I see that they have to make a noise all the time to warn pedestrians, its a flawed technology.

That's only because pedestrians are not used to them yet.

Remember, when cars first arrived, a man waving a red flag had to walk in front of them...

It's not flawed technology at all - the concept is perfectly valid, the technology is continually being refined.

I suspect air-sourced heat-pumps or similar will be used for HVAC - far more efficient than traditional methods. The truck driver cab heating overnight issue will go away when there are no more truck drivers.

Also, battery technology is advancing in leaps and bounds - liquid batteries will allow refuelling in similar times to petrochemical engines.

Embrace the change!

[Doodlebug]

We are all aware of the plastic menace in our oceans but what has happened to all
the rubber worn off tyres since cars were invented?

Washed down the roadway drains and then what?

Will we soon be hearing of the rubber menace in our oceans ?

[peter scott]

Yes, the heated steering wheel and seats may help but let's face it, battery technology is not the way to run electric vehicles.

Peter

[ppppenguin]

At the moment, heating and a/c in electric cars simply reduce the range. As always the need is to make more efficient heaters and a/c. along with better insulation. From what I've seen, if you have something with a big battery pack such as a Tesla, the range reduction is small.

[Nick]

Yes, the heated steering wheel and seats may help but let's face it, battery technology is not the way to run electric vehicles.

Agreed - Fuel cells or similar make far more sense and may be viable in the future... but we are where we are, and batteries of one form or another is the name of the game...

[alanworland]

Good point about tyre waste being washed down the drains.
Programme on TV recently gave figures for the amount of tyre debris being washed into the seas, it was a significant amount.

Alan

[Murphyv310]

The heat generated by the batteries when driving is scavenged and partly used for cabin heating, tests though confirm range is less in winter due to heaters and batteries at a temperature lower than optimum.