How would the heater for an electric car work?

Question

I live up in Wisconsin and we get some chilly weather in the winter! I was just wondering how the heater for an electric car would work, since in a petrol car the heat comes from the engine. Also would a heater in the electric car need to draw more power and thus give a reduced range?

Answer 1

I think the Prius already has an electric heater so you get heat right away even if the engine isn't getting used enough to warm up quickly.  

Answer 2

Yeah good question.

My guess they will use an electric heater (lower miles per charge), heat from the electric motor/batts/brakes are a good source.  

Fact is heat is made from energy so the cars batts will have to make the heat.  

Also a little FYI the hybrid cars out now are not true electric cars by far.  A true electric car is called a PLUG IN.  It has NO combustion motor of any kind.

Answer 3

If I were designing an all-electric car, I'd choose between two possible alternative designs for heating the cabin -- not sure at this point which it would be:

Electric heating element (of course it draws power, duh!), or

A very large dog.

Answer 4

THere are 3 basic types of heaters used in electric cars.

The first one is direct heating of the air.  This type is exactly like an electric space heater you buy at the local home center.  You plug it in the fans comes on, the element heats up warming the air.  It main advantage is simplicity.

The second is hot water.  IT is used mainly in conversion EV's.  A small tank of water is heated with electricity, then small pump forces the fluid through the original heater core of the car.   This has the advantage of not having to tear the dash out to modify the heater.

The third type is heat pump.  An air conditioner is basically a heat pump.  It picks up heat on the inside of  the car and dumps it outside.  The system can be reversed to extract heat from the outside and pump it into the cabin to heat it.  Much like home heat pump system can both cool and heat your home.

There is forth type which is kind of like a boiler in that it uses fuel to heat the water and pump it through the heater core.  The fuel can be gas diesel or propane.  These are very rare and expensive.  They are kind of counter intuitive in that "I got rid of the engine so I don't pollute but I still have to burn fuel to keep warm so my car isn't total emission free."

The first 3 use some electricity so the range of the electric car is reduced.