How Do Electric Cars Keep You Warm In Winter? 

EDIT: We know we didn't phrase this well. What came across as the implication that Resistive and PTC heaters (which generate heat the same way) weren't energy efficient was wrong. They're very energy efficient. What we meant to say - and should have said - was that while they're good at converting energy into heat - they're not great for vehicle efficiency on a long distance trip because while they convert near 100% of the energy they consume into heat, that results in a much reduced range in winter when compared to say a heat pump. We're sorry for screwing this one up badly.

Awesome that you suggested Technology Connections, love that channel.

Technology Connections is an awesome channel. I learned from watching one of his videos that vehicles (especially EVs) are pretty much fancy branded fans with seats, steering wheels, doors, windows, computers, etc. attached to them.

A small corerection: as PTC heaters are just a subtype of resistive heaters, they are equally efficient - the heating power in watts = current squared times resistance = 100% electric power used (though PTCs are kind of self-regulating).

Yeah, EV's clearly don't work in the cold. I've heard people say this for many years. That's why Norway is the first country in the world where electric car sales outstrip those powered by other means. Because it's never cold in Norway.

There's something fishy with the comparison of resistive heaters and PTC heaters. They are both resistive, so their efficiency must be equal, and it's 100%, since the only kind of loss they can produce is itself heat.. The plain resistive heater relies on either a thermostat or temperature sensor (plus controller) to provide feedback and achieve a desired target temperature. The PTC has built in feedback provided by the positive temp coefficient of the resistive element, but still needs additional feedback that senses the temperature being delivered to where it's needed. What _may_ differ between various systems is how directly the heating element is applied to the target -- for example heating elements applied to the front or rear windshield rather than hot air blowing on them, or heating elements in the seats applied almost directly to the occupants, instead of again warming them with hot air. Some of these methods may be able to provide a heating result where it's needed while avoiding _overheating_ the air which might then wastefully dissipate heat where it doesn't matter, such as via the roof or side windows or under the seats. But so far as resistors vs PTCs, those elements are both "100% efficient" at converting electricity to heat.

I wonder if EV designs will incorporate more thermal insulation in the future. ICE cars have very little insulation because they have access to free heat and many horsepower to power the air conditioner. Today's EVs are mostly designed to be similar to ICE cars, using components and manufacturing methods designed for ICE cars.

The real solution have a resistance heater for extreme temp and heat pump for all other times.

Car air conditioning has a relatively low pressure gas and in colder conditions will struggle to find the heat to move .. but as it is a methane hybrid it will condense down into a liquid state in the coldest parts of the system causing gas starvation and lack of heating/cooling effect. Identifying where it is condensing is the trick . Normally in the compressor oil , on most home air conditioners you have a low wattage compressor heater . Now I could be wrong but I have been doing heat pump stuff since the 80s and it seems plausible. Great show . Keep smiling.

Excellent vid. I always wondered how my kia soul ev was keeping me warm. Thank you

Tesla use a fourth way to produce heat, as shown several times by our excellent Bjørn Nyland: motor stators. He shows them consuming up to 7kW total. No idea on how it works (high frequency alternative current?) or how efficient this is though. Thanks for the video!

Does anyone know if Tesla’s heat pump system actually has a backup resistive heater or not?

Great video! My E-ton has both ptc and heat pump. I notice when it’s really cold it starts with the ptc, then switches to whichever it needs.

Great video topic, well done also look forward to that HomeKit video 😀

Very informative video, Thank you!

Happy New Year Nikki!

Thank you for that excellent explanation... best I've heard on the topic. I didn't know about PTC heaters. It's a major issue for where I live in Alaska. I even considered installing a diesel parking heater in my Nissan Leaf, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I think a resistive heater or diesel heater is the best option for the winters I have to contend with.

Happy new year Transport Evolved

Teslabjorn was sleeping in -20 with a heat pump model 3 with no prolems keeping 18 degrees in the cabin

Always wondered and now I know thank you!!

Hi Nikki my 2015 Volkswagen e Golf SEL has a heat pump and a high voltage coolant heater in the normal coolant loop the same on tha ICE golf uses but it’s only used when the heat pump can’t cope with very low temperatures.

Happy New Year to you too

Finally some one who feels the same way about -40C / -40F! YAY!!! lol

You made a great job of explaining everything, and leaves only one factor out: forward motion through such cold temperatures, more than DOUBLES the problem depending on speed, of heat pump type systems (the ones that work like refrigerators or aircon). Example: I had a fridge that was replaced but working and thought i would use it for extra cold storage in my garage. WRONG! Fine in everything but winter! The ironic concept i did not know, was that heat pump type systems like the fridge, almost completely fail around zero degrees centigrade or forty Fahrenheit. Stuff in the fridge was WARMER than if just left out in my freezing garage! Now, move that fridge at say fifty miles per hour through that same cold air, and the problem worsens hugely. Put another way, it does not have to be ‘super cold’ for heat pumps to fail to warm a car - this fails to factor in the forward motion issue I describe. There is a space here, for a plug-in micro-engine or boiler, using fossil fuel perhaps gas recommends itself because i think i am right saying deep cold does not affect it, except condensation in the feed pipe ti the burner. But, a small capacity, 180cc triple cylinder gasoline combustion engine, should produce enough heat for the cabin while being able to charge batteries at the same time. This would turn the present hybrid world on its head, and still send us into primarily using electric powered cars, but with a fossil-fuel component. Sacrilege for some, but Volvo have long made cars where Canada and Scandinavia versions had a mini-boiler using diesel, to heat or pre-heat the vehicle. It would also save or create jobs. There’s no fighting reality. Either lose a third of your main battery to heating, or you are aiming at a microgasoline unit or fossil-fuel boiler like I suggest. Fundamentally, these would not be hybrids as we presently know them - the 180cc triple engine would be only connected to a generator not a drive shaft to the wheels. More like a refined version of BMW’s ‘range extender’ than the main engine of the Totota Yaris self-charging hybrid advertised before this video on my YT app (LIE ALERT - the hybrid bit, I really did see the ad stuck on the front of seeing this excellent video). Great job highlighting the main stumbling block to me recommending an EV to my daughters! Look how far we’ve come...price is almost there especially with USED EVs becoming available, range is all but beaten as a problem, tech settling down. Cabin heating is a bugbear, if all it took was this micro-engine heater/charger unit to fix it, that’s a huge milestone we have reached. Happy New Year. We are way far away from 2011, ten years of solid EV work has propelled us forward so far let’s keep going.

ahhh cold weather, when the mercury reads negative 30 or so, the angry pixies just dont dance the way they used to.

I absolutely love watching your videos!

How will the new Aptera heat and cool the cabin and do you think the system will be adequate for cold northern and hot southern climates?

So, Tesla's flame thrower should be able to fix this.

Good video, thank you. Some heat in the car is indeed needed as you say, to keep the windows defogged. But not much. I save a lot of range by putting on my ski mountaineering clothing--down booties, down jacket, hoods, toque, and fleece pants! Not quite as comfy as a warm cabin, but not bad. On trips where range isn't as much of an issue, and I can get free charging, I can leave the down at home.

My car's heater sucks. I have done everything but rip out the old heater core and replace it to try and make it work better, but no joy has been found. When the temps get close to 0F, it's almost useless for anything other than keeping the windshield MOSTLY clear. This year I had enough and bought a heated seat cover. BEST INVESTMENT OF MY LIFE. Sure, it's a resistive heater, but it has made a world of difference in my driving comfort in northern Minnesota.

I was curious about this because of energy drain from heating and air conditioning. How much does it lessen miles between recharging? How much does it cost to charge utility wise verses prices at the gas pump?

That brings to mind an episode of Top Gear (the old lot) when a woodstove was installed in a car for a mobile sauna. Guess which one did that?

My two favourite people in one place, Nikki and Alec! Great video again.

I love you Nikki, happy New Year wishing you the best health and happiness this year.

Combine both heat pump and ptc?

Very interesting thanks

Fascinating! Do you know what the biofuel was? I was looking at a similar diesel heater for camping, but would rather run it on something other then diesel. Having two or three systems in a car sure does add it its complexity or cost but for some of us that would be a welcome option. I wonder if keeping the batteries heated results in better range? I think I am going to have to experiment with PTC heaters in any case.

I'm really curious about this one.. Watched a video a few months back on the tesla 'octovalve' system. As the same heating and cooling systems are used for passengers and battery at least in the models that use it, I'm wondering if the car is prioritizing bringing the batteries up to temperature quicker. I do wonder what customers would prefer.. Reduced speed/power, or reduced heating, at least for the first while.. (I'm also glad I live somewhere it never gets below 0c! Brrrr!)

Love the shoutout to Technology Conections. He also has a few vids about EVs on his channel as well.

Happy new year! How is your total Chevy Bolt?😁

My version of the Model 3 LR has the ptc heating system which I love. What you did not mention is the brilliance of Tesla’s octovalve system to be able to manage heating distribution when its batteries are heated reducing reliance on the ptc heating system once everything gets going. I think for an extra 10% more battery capacity, the ptc heating system is is just as efficient as a heat pump while having the advantage of being able to get instant heat in a moments notice or subfreezing temperatures. This is one main reason I'll be holding on to my Model 3 for life.

I have a 2018 40kwh Nissan Leaf in Canada,. Although not Quebec kind of cold, I do notice that the heat pump start getting pretty useless at -20c, it pretty much turns the outside cold air into lesser cold air on the inside,... We keep blankets in the car and use seat/steering wheel heaters and its tolerable... But don't get me wrong... between 0 to -10c its wonderful and works rather well and instantly,... Just the nature of the beast... I wonder if they're going to engineer a hybrid PTC/Heat Pump system, warm the air up a bit before it enters the heat pump when outside temperature reaches a certain threshold...

Great video! I've had some strong reservations about getting a heat-pump car. They need a full PTC/Resistive heater backup for very cold climates. They can still get better efficiency, with a minimal(to zero) increase in complexity. Minisplits (which use heat-pump tech to cool & heat) don't work well below about 0f in most cases. These companies have decades of experience, and *are* innovative. This is one of the reasons I discount Musk's suggestion that they can do it better. They definitely missed the mark re: car heating in Canadian/upper midwest USA temps.

sounds like the best option would be a heat pump for normal temperatures and a PTC heater for when it gets cold.

Excellent explanation Nikki. We have the optional heat pump in our i3s & it does seem to work pretty well whilst not destroying range. Having said that, I do tend to use the seat heaters to warm up whilst waiting for the cabin to hit 22degrees. Who knew car heaters could be so interesting :-)

I live in an area of the Rockies that can see temps dip as low as -20°f in winter. About 5 years ago, I had a 2nd gen Prius that was almost underivable in those extreme conditions because every time the ICE shut down while driving, the coolant through the heater core would cool so fast that the air out of the vents couldn’t keep the glass defrosted, much less the interior warm. I had to keep a credit card at hand to scrape the driver side window to see where I was going. I share this story only to say that I understand the struggle these northern EV drivers face in winter. While not ideal, a small auxiliary biofuel heater added to the heat pump setup seems like it would make perfect sense. At least as a temporary stop gap solution while better technology is developed.

Happy new year! In the Netherlands the top 3 best selling car models in 2020 were: 1. Kia Niro 2. VW ID.3 (came out mid-September yet picked second spot!) 3. Hyundai Kona Recognise those models? The ID.3 is only available electric and both the Niro and Kona have full electric versions. Now I unfortunately don't have these numbers broken down to petrol/electric. But whereas the total car sales has gone down 20% in 2020, sales of full electric has gone up 14%.

Is there any chance you can expand on this video and get specific about what each ev manufacturer uses in their vehicles? For instance what is rivian using for their trucks?

My Model Y heat died in November. 10 days later a software update got some of it back. I needed a PT Sensor, High Pressure , Part #: 1510047-00-B, replaced. It took about 6 weeks for the part to come in. Messages from the service center implied it was affecting multiple users.

I had a very early Honda Electric Car that had a Kerosene heater in it. And no it wasn‘t a golf cart and actual (very ugly) electric car.

As something of an heat pump nerd, 60 degrees C probably represents the upper limit between the outside air (the evaporator) and the temperature of the inside heater element (the condenser). If its -40 out and the condenser is not going to get much above 20c which isn;t much good as you probably want a minimum of 30 C to get the cabin to 20C. You could get it higher with a multi stage heat pump (use the out put of the fist stage to feed a separate second stage) but it gets crazy expensive and complex. Simpler would be using a resistive heater to boost the air outside and then feed that through the pump. Cost and complexity again. Apologies to the Americans stuck in their freedom units but the Canadians will get it.

Very thoughtful article. I looked up the annual temperatures range for this location and it said we get just a few 19 degree Fahrenheit days here so maybe i will be ok with the Cybertrukk that i have on order.

I've had two homes with heat pumps and neither one performed as promised. Their air was not nearly as warm as a regular furnace, they took forever to warm up the house, and they'd sometimes ice up. I would expect autos to have similar problems.

I notice they use fancy jargon heat pumps ICE shit like that way above everyday normal guys, we don't want an answer where you need to be a professor in Quantative engineering we want an answer like range 250mls in summer -8 winter drops to 30 ml.

PTC is resistive. Not more energy efficient at all.

Tesla needs an actual wood burning Yule Log.

That was cool! Bad pun but still true. I'm learning so much from your channel and Fully Charged! Computers generate quite a bit of heat but that of course is residual resistive heat...

Happy & Healthy New Year to you and yours Nikki. No heat problems so far with our 2019 Bolt here in southern Ontario, not counting the reduced range. What has me hot under the collar is the recent arrest of Loujain Al-Hathloul, a young lady who attended the University of British Columbia, for having the temerity to advocate for more women's rights in Saudi Arabia. I'm one of those who got their licence the moment I turned 16, and ever since it has stuck in my craw that we, especially in eastern North America - even here in "oil rich" Canada - have been shovelling $$ into certain regions and, um, "kingdoms" making them stupid rich and enabling them to do whatever the *#+& they want. Please Nikki, you and your crew keep doing what you're doing and let's get everyone we can on electric so on top of saving our planet we get to keep our hard earned cash here.

I have a mini cooper se that uses a heat pump and i was driving at -9 F. My heating options were less than half my range for a not horridly cold cabin or ice forming on the inside of my windows. Heatpumps are great for 20-60 degrees. Less than that id rather a more direct heating system

I live in Queensland Australia. Cold weather is something that I never have to worry about. My winter temp is usually in the 20°c it's all about how good the A/C is.

The gen 2 Volt can idle the ICE while driving in electric mode to heat the cabin when it's very cold, I forget what the threshold is. It's not the most efficient way to do things but petrol just sits in my car all year long so it gives me a chance to cycle some of it out during winter months and it helps extend the range a bit. The car does have a fuel monitor but this way I use fuel when it's most efficient to do so and not on a hot summer day. Yeah I use so little fuel I've gotten into the habit of using fuel stabilizer just to prevent problems with stale fuel as the car ages!

Heat pumps don't work well in the cold days of Quebec winters and should have a backup heat source for those -30 days.

My concern here inQuébec is more about windshield defrost 😯. Hope my Toyota Bz4x gonna be o.k ?

I think the leaf uses a combination of the heat pump and a resistive heater, as on leaf spy you can see a statistic for ‘heater’ and one for ‘AC’ which is the heat pump. Unless that ‘heater’ is just for the battery? Would love to know for sure!

Guess they need to install a little decaying radioactive isotope heater. See the movie 'The Martian' ..LOL!

As others pointed out, PTC heaters are also resistive heaters, only kind of self-regulating. Also as mentioned, there is nothing to stop manufacturers to ad some kind of resistive heater to the heat pump, for use in extreme circumstances (and many do). You missed one rather important aspect of this conundrum: scavenging waste heat from motors, inverters, other electronics and batteries. Apparently, Tesla's design if integrated cooling/heating system is particularly good at that. Jaguar also does it and, I assume, many others, but, apparently, not as efficiently.

In other news, Bjorn Nyland just tested the Model 3 LR sleeping in the car with -26C and the heat pump worked great, specially the octovalve sucking the battery's heat to make the consumption lower is a great thing imo. First time heard an EV using the battery as thermal mass and using the waste heat for cabin heating.

Well one obvious solution would be for Tesla to offer a heated front windshield like Ford does on nearly every UK model (called "Quickclear"). This would allow electric power to be applied exactly where it is needed to maintain visibility without having to heat a lot of air and blow it over the windshield. Ford's system automatically turns off after 4 minutes. For electric cars I would suggest that there be a "rapid" and a "continuous" modes, with the continuous mode at a reduced power level sufficient to keep the inside of the windshield from fogging up. This could even be applied to the side windows. A contact point on the bottom of the glass that makes contact with a power supply contact when the window is up to avoid have a wire trailing up and down inside the door. The advantage of this, as I see it, is that you don't needed a lot of hot air blowing over the windows to keep them from fogging up. Thus you could run the cabin at a lower temperature and stay bundled up in your winter gear that you are wearing anyway. Also this would allow cabin air to be recirculated, which you can't do with hot air defrosting because of the build-up in moisture in the cabin.

I just did a test drive in model 3 on a relatively balmy 28F January day in Minnesota. Loved the car but I froze for the entire 30 minute drive. Since this is for my wife, that’s a non-starter. Her side of the car is always set several degrees warmer than mine already.

Can they use the heat generated by the batteries and add it to the heat pump heat?

Thanks, an informative discussion. My EV, not a Tesla, has a heat pump and it warms the car very rapidly, but I do not live in Quebec. Time for the world to use centigrade, do US use degrees absolute in Fahrenheit?, Yes I am an engineer and use degrees absolute.

Well, I noticed that Bjørn Nyland just released a video where he camps overnight in a Tesla m3, in -26 C. It seems like the heat pump managed to keep the car warm quite well. But that doesn't mean that things can't be improved. First of all he is probably amongst the more experienced ev users out there, and he prepared for the night by insulating all windows, which you can't do while driving. He is also using the latest model 3 available. He also mentioned that the double glass windows seems to insulate better than the standard ones. If there really is a problem, it should be possible to solve this by making an arctic version. Mybe with some bigger capacity heat pump or added ptc heater.

I second the comments about PTC and resistive -- they both convert 100% of the electricity input into heat. (Whether some of that heat leaks out, and therefore doesn't end up in the cabin, is also important, but relatively easy to solve, I would think.) Regarding heat pumps -- it is also true that 100% of the electricity input is converted to heat, PLUS you get the bonus of pumping some heat 'uphill' from the cold exterior into the warmer interior. This link contains an image that might help: hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/thermo/heatpump.html. What matters in this case is the ratio of the heat from your electricity to the heat from the exterior. It may be an oversimplification, but I think as the 'hill' gets steeper (ie - the temperature differential increases), it takes more juice to pump a given amount of heat up the hill. In the limit, you get zero heat from the exterior, and it becomes equivalent to resistive heat. But I think that there are technical details of the process that prevent it from approaching that limit -- ie -- it just stops working. We have a heat pump as our only home heat source (in Phoenix), and on VERY cold nights, it has to actually reverse to defrost itself, so it actually blows cold air for a short time.

As you alluded, I find that heated steering wheels, preconditioning, and heated seats can “go a long way,” so to speak, in warming me up. Then again, I live in a (usually) warm climate, so it rarely gets super-cold here. Nevertheless, that’s probably where to *start* , if you’re on a battery budget.

German Nextmove found very little difference between an ID.3 with and without a heatpump. Consumption was 17.1 vs 16.9 KWh/100km at 0°C. Disappointing, I expected more, especially as at that temperature the heatpump should still produce 3-4 times the amount of heat from power consumed.

New technology always has some growing pains. Sounds like some bugs they will need to work out. I have high hopes for this new technology though! Thanks as always for the excellent nuanced coverage. Best wishes for your year ahead, and lots of healing thoughts coming your way.

Does tesla publish a seer rating for their heet pumps?

As far as I know the Tesla heat pump recirculates direcly to itself when first starting, releasing to the battery and cabin when it warms up a bit.

Great explanation! Where there is a will there is a way. My bet is on Tesla's solution is the combo resistive plus heat pump as which has been used for room heaters for many years. When I was a GI in Germany I drove a '57 Beetle. What heater? LOL...no coolant in that motor. No wonder all the Germans carried blankets in their cars. By the time you drove to the base the engine was only beginning to warm up. Also when we were on guard duty we learned to dress up with winter gear when patrolling around. After all those Danes ride bicycles to work in winter. Where is their heater? This issue is part of the balancing act all of us play in trying to be net zero or energy efficient. We learn the best strategies to maximize the kilowatt hours we save and produce. That's part of the game and the fun. Nobody likes to be cold, but we can't expect to have the wanton use of heat like you may get from an ICE that is mostly good at wasting heat from the energy used. Really for the very few days of the year most of us would have a problem with the heater we have to use our head and our winter clothes and all those excellent strategies you suggested!! Some people think it is fun to sit in a tent on a frozen lake. It is all perspective and a little creativity, adaptation and common sense. Cold weather doesn't last long, and the days are already getting longer and sunnier!

Probably a software update away. I'm sure they'll integrate some form of resistive supplement to meet demand (similar to other EVs equipped with a heat pump). It's their first heat pump system, probably working out the kinks. PTC is a form of resistive, both are 100% efficient. But I can imagine GM's resistive, coolant, approach would offer more losses within the plumbing outside the insulated cabin, or losses from metallic thermal bridging though the plumbing. PTC sounds to be a more direct form of hearing, eliminating the middle man. Heat scavenging would be a nice topic to include next time. Enjoy!

Tesla Bjorn also noticed a few times that the Tesla 3 heat pump version didn’t heat up the batteries enough to utilize optimal fast charging in cold weather - but it were a minor thing

There's a PTC video example on the bench at 'Go Green Autos Ltd' taken from a Renault Kangoo 22kWh for you to look at. Matt in the UK kept this unit hoping it might be salvageable.

A lot of luxury cars have heated seats and steering wheel. This is a much more efficient way to heat the passengers than heating the air around them. Heat still has to be provided to keep the windshield clear, but heated seats rather than heated air requires a lot less energy. Even better would be having passengers don heated clothing, such as a resistance-heated jumpsuit. I used to ride a motorcycle year round (when the roads were dry). Even the modest battery and alternator of a touring motorcycle can provide resistance heating for shirt, pants, socks, and gloves, putting the heat directly against the body. In extreme climates, this could be an efficient solution.

Yeah, heat pumps need to be specially designed for Quebec winters, the one on my house is good down to -20C but it can go down to -30C on occasion. The coldest I saw was -47C in 2003, a couple hours drive north ;-)

As a mechanical engineer, I think you explained heat pumps brilliantly! (although, as Michal corrected you, PTC is indeed not more efficient than other types of resistive heating)

I think you said it perfectly when you said resistive heaters aren’t as efficient as heat pumps. Yes, resistive heaters are 100% efficient because they convert all of the electrical energy to heat. But a heat pump can actually be MORE THAN 100% efficient, can it not? In terms of calories of heat output per KWh of electricity input? The RELATIVE efficiency of heat pumps cs resistive heaters is > 1 (if it’s not too cold out), making the heat pump >100% efficient.

Funny thing is that it's been one of the warmest year thus far... It's barely getting under -12°C. Most of the time it's -5. which is really warm at this time of year. It won't be pretty in February....

Great explanation! Thanks for taking such a neutral stance regarding the Tesla issue - Its refreshing!

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't Tesla owners in Canada offered an extra cold weather package??

Heat pumps with dual sources might be the best option. For example, batteries do produce heat as they are being used so being able to pump that excess heat from the battery into the cabin as an adjunct to pulling heat from the outside air would improve their efficiency even more. A two stage heat pump in which heat is extracted from outside air first and then added to the excess heat pulled from the battery.

If this is a problem to do with the efficacy of heat pumps in very cold temperatures then this would not be just a Quebecois issue. Plenty of regions across the continent including the US that get as cold or even much colder in the winter. Has this problem appeared in the prairies and the Midwest?

I just drove a 3 hour journey in 3 degrees dressed like an Eskimo in a 1 week old £57,000 Tesla model 3. One week before they can sort it and I won’t be surprised when they don’t give me a courtesy car. Apparently it’s an issue with temperature sensors failing and it’s going to be bodged with a firmware update to ignore the sensors. I’m well not impressed. A car that drives itself but you need a Canada goose jacket while you click the autopilot isn’t exactly what you’d expect from the latest model 3. Cheers Elon Oh and can you work out how to solve the problem of what happens when you get a flat tire? I know it’s a bit more straight forward than dealing with the likes of getting to Mars, and it may not be enough of a challenge for you, but us folk here on earth still have to deal with minor issues such as how to get off the M25 with a puncture. Anyhow awaiting the heat for now with a busy schedule of driving to a bunch of different meetings all over the south of England freezing my nuts off. Buzzing 🤙

That i link you mentioned at 13:31 didn’t show :/

PTC means just thst the electric resitance of the material incrases as it becomes hotter. That is the case for every metal. It is really nothing special about it, although it is build in a Tesla. Other materials have the opposite behaviour, like silicon for instance.

I always wondered why my Leaf (S) did not have a heat pump. After all, almost everything is already there. It is called A/C, which pumps heat FROM the cabin. What most heat pumps have, is a reversing valve and a few other changes.. And why not pull heat from the traction system? There is a Radiator on my Leaf, so there must be waste heat to deal with. In the mean time: Use the Wheel and seat heaters along with a sweater :)

Happy New Year from Scotland, Nikki. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Hope 2021 gives you all that you need. Stay safe and well. 😊

Do you think a heat pump is really necessary in an EV? Saving 4 kw on a road trip of 150 miles nets an extra 20 miles of range at best. Maybe the reliable old PTC heater for $10 is the better choice vs the much more complex and expensive heat pump.

thank. you did a good recherche, Quebecois air, yes , proper noun l do leave in Québec, we use to sait, thet heat pump, is efficient from minus 18 celcius to wamer degre below minus 18, its not performing

Some additions: 1) What also helps are heated seats and (to a lesser extent) steering wheel. That will keep you warm more directly, allowing you to run the general heating at a lower temperature. 2) A potential downside of heat pumps is that they often scavenge heat from the battery, which can cause a slower charging rate on road trips. 3) you can wear a jacket and riding gloves...

Remember, the YE2020 delivered number is subject to a +/-2,400 delivery estimate. At the year end report we may find that more than 500,000 cars delivered.