I just bought Kona 2020(preferred) one month ago the specifications on Hyundai Canada website says this car has heat pump however manual does not tell me how to use it such as how to turn it on/off. If it is on/off automatically how do I know it is on/off. I have searched related info on internet but not got any answers. Any one knows? Thanks in advance. Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
Its automatic, there is no way to turn it on manually. Basically if you ask your climate controls to call for heat and the car decides if its appropriate to turn on the heat pump or be augmented with the restive cabin heater. Its effective operating range is supposed to be -20C and +15 C but I functionally find if its colder than approximately -7C or so it mostly defaults to the resistance heater. The heat pump is not very efficient beyond that point, meaning you will put more electrical energy into running it than it will return with heated air. I can usually tell its running as my car has an associated mild A/C pump noise/vibration. The easier way is to monitor your energy consumption screen, if your consumption goes above 1750 watts you can be certain you are now resistance heat only or a mixture of both depending on how cold it is outside temperature and how much heat you are requesting. In mild cold(0-15C) the heat pump consumption is typically around 300-1200 watts. It will go off when you turn off your climate control or it has reached the cabin temperature set point. You can tell its off when your climate consumption is zero.
Thanks apu . Great answers detailed and knowledgeable. I remember some articles said heat pump can save lot of energy in winter time. EV range reduction will reduce from 30-40% to less than 10%. It was a major factor I chose Kona preferred. If when temp below -7C the heat pump is not efficient then when temp is -20C to -30C which is not uncommon in Canada’ winter heat pump may not help too much to save energy. I will see how heat pump performance is this winter. Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
Its a good feature but it does have its limitations during the coldest portions of our harsh winters. It really shines during our shoulder months. Its most efficient between 0-10C degrees with a max 3 to 1 efficiency advantage, meaning that for every BTU of electrical energy you put in the system you get nearly 3 BTUs back in heating, but at -10C its pretty much 1:1 or worse. I can tell from experience that from -20 to - 30C the heat pump is completely out of play and at these temperatures your range will drop to between 70-60% of your summer range and its largely due the resistance heater pulling 2-5Kw all the time to keep you warm and keep the frost off your windows.
I find with the excessive rain and humid conditions where I live in the "winter", turning on climate control almost always activates the AC to defog the windows and resistive heat blows at the same time. I have become accustomed to pushing the AC to "off" when calling for climate control which then causes the heat pump to run exclusively. I do have window visors and keep the windows open year round about an inch which generally clears any fog from the windshield. For the most part the HP draws as apu said between 300 to 900 W.
