Efficiency of electric vehicle interior heating systems at low ambient temperatures

Abstract

Abstract The electric car market is becoming more and more extensive. According to ACEA, in 2019, 549,387 full electric passenger vehicles, hybrid plug-ins and hydrogen vehicles were registered in the European Union. Thus, it is an increase of 52.9 percent compared to 2018. Germany is the leader with 108 839 registrations of vehicles (+60.9% y/y). Great Britain achieved an increase of 21.5 percent y/y and the number of registrations at 72 834 pieces. The Netherlands came next (66 957 pcs, + 146.3% y/y), France (61 356 pcs, +34.6% y/y) and Sweden (40 406 pcs, + 39.4% y/y). Registration results in Europe shows that the popularity of electric vehicles is increasing. Along with the development of this type of vehicles, the technology used in their construction also changes. The biggest calls at the moment are batteries for these vehicles, as well as their ranges on a single charge. There are already vehicles with ranges of 500 km or even 600 km. However, it turns out that these are not the only problems with electric vehicles One of the drawbacks is the way they heat their passenger cabins. There is no typical heater in an electric vehicle as in the case of a vehicle with a conventional drive. For this purpose, e.g. an electric heater with a blower is used for this purpose. For this reason, the authors of the paper decided to determine the efficiency of the heating system in an electric vehicle at low ambient temperatures. Own tests were carried out on the vehicle at temperatures of +5°C, −5°C and −10°C. Based on the research, the authors of the paper could draw conclusions on how to heat the interior in the electric vehicle under test, as well as check whether the efficiency of such a system for individual places in the car is sufficient to obtain the set temperature.