Heating a car using Gas rather than Battery

[Atul Thakkar]

I am in Canada and we have a cold weather for a longer time than normal , so I was wondering is there a possibility to turn on heater such that it runs on gas rather than battery while you are driving ?

 

[ab13]

I am in Canada and we have a cold weather for a longer time than normal , so I was wondering is there a possibility to turn on heater such that it runs on gas rather than battery while you are driving ?

Maybe use sport mode and push the accelerator to turn on the engine.

 

[Viking79]

Yes, HV mode or just force engine to start by quick acceleration. However, I am not sure there is a way like the Volt to disable electric heat entirely. It works slightly differently. However, both coolant circuits share the same heat exchanger in the car.

This area needs someone to do a little deeper investigation to determine exactly how the car blends heat and such. My wife has complained that when the car switches to gas it blows cold air for a bit, makes me wonder if it totally turns off the electric heat. The Volt blends it.

 

[marshall]

Are you sure you want to do that?

From my experience with the Hyundai Sonata PHEV, this is a very, very poor way to heat the interior of a vehicle, as it gulps a lot of gas. It's one thing to use the waste heat from a gas engine, but another to try to generate heat using a very efficient engine.

Frankly, I hate my Sonata PHEV since it doesn't have a PTC electric heater.

 

[Viking79]

Clarity BEV has a PTC heater and a heat pump, Clarity PHEV has neither. It uses an electric resistance heater that heats coolant to run through the heat exchanger in the cabin, this allows sharing heat exchanger with both the engine and the electric heater.

I think what you were meaning is the Sonata PHEV has no electric heater of any sort? PTC heaters heat the air directly, as opposed to the electric water heater in the Clarity.

I agree though, no reason to run the heat engine if you have battery energy, it is most likely much cheaper for most to run straight electricity, and unlike my Volt 1, the electric heater in the Clarity is far more effective at heating the cabin. I checked my electric efficiency on my Volt all winter and even when I was getting 1.5 mi/kWh in Jan, my electric miles were still 30% cheaper than when it was running it on gas.

 

[Atul Thakkar]

Thanks, so the conclusion is that: pre condition car, Run on econ mode and use heat from battery is best efficient way , correct?

 

[Viking79]

Yes, even if you are getting 1.5 mi/kwh (corresponds to around 20 or 22 mile EV range) you are still using less energy than burning gas, as 1.5 mi/kwh from the wall is like 50 MPGe.

 

[megreyhair]

The best way to heat the car would be to use a plutonium reactor like Matt Damon did in Martian Using ICE to warm the car would be the least efficient way

 

[PHEV Newbie]

Interesting discussion guys. I get that the PHEV has a resistance heater that heats the coolant to heat the cabin. Is it also true that if you're running the ICE, like on a road trip in HV, that the heat comes from the ICE's waste heat (like in regular cars) and not from the resistance heater?

 

[Viking79]

Interesting discussion guys. I get that the PHEV has a resistance heater that heats the coolant to heat the cabin. Is it also true that if you're running the ICE, like on a road trip in HV, that the heat comes from the ICE's waste heat (like in regular cars) and not from the resistance heater?

The waste heat from the engine is definitely used. I am unsure about the electric heater usage. My Volt can control electric heater separately, and if both are on, they are blended. For example, if the engine is running and the heater is on and electric "comfort" heat is enabled, it won't run much power through the electric heater and it depends on temperature setting.

I am unsure if Clarity is similar, but the electric heater and engine share the same heater core. My hunch is the electric heater is either disabled, or only heats the difference between the requested temperature and the coolant.

Someone could investigate this more.

 

[PHEV Newbie]

The waste heat from the engine is definitely used. I am unsure about the electric heater usage. My Volt can control electric heater separately, and if both are on, they are blended. I am unsure if Clarity is similar, but they do share the same heater core. My hunch is the electric heater is either disabled, or only heats the difference between the requested temperature and the coolant.

Thanks Viking79. Coolant temps are always monitored by a thermostat so I imagine it's just some lines of code for the computer to turn off the resistance heater if the coolant is already hot from the ICE.