The heat pump you’ve never heard of: how one device can maximize EV range and make charging easier

Type “heat pumps” into an Internet search engine and you’ll get thousands of hits dedicated to weighing the pros and cons of home energy heating systems.

But many people do not know that a heat pump still exists, especially for electric cars.

The lesser-known EV heat pumps are devices that keep you warm while increasing your car’s range.

Heat pumps in electric cars have been around since the 2013 Nissan Leaf and the 2014 Kia ​​Soul. But lately it’s Teslas that have brought them into the spotlight.

What exactly do EV heat pumps do and how do they work? How much money can they save you?

Here’s our guide to heat pumps for electric cars, which cars already come with them and whether it’s worth getting one as an option.

What are heat pumps for electric cars and how do they work?

An electric car heat pump is a device that uses waste heat from the car’s battery to heat the interior of the EV – thereby improving the EV’s efficiency by using less load on the battery.

The usual analogy for how a heat pump works is that it is like an upside-down refrigerator or freezer.

A heat pump, as the name on the tin suggests, pumps heat around. While a refrigerator moves warm air from inside to outside, a heat pump moves heat from outside to inside.

Within seconds, a heat pump extracts excess heat from the car’s battery and electrical systems and uses compression to heat the air that is then used to heat the EV’s cabin.

How efficient are EV heat pumps? And do they really help to increase reach?

A heat pump will help greatly improve a car’s efficiency in cold weather, heating the interior faster and with less energy than a traditional fan heater or air conditioning system.

The more efficient the car, the more kilometers it can travel because less battery power is used.

A winter range test in practice, carried out by What Car? found that the electric cars with a heat pump fell short of their official range by an average of 25.4 percent, while the electric cars without a heat pump left a deficit of 33.6 percent.

Cars with heat pumps also proved to be more efficient, averaging 5.2 miles/kWh, compared to 4.6 miles/kWh for cars without.

Other advantages of a heat pump?

Heat pumps are also used to keep the battery at an optimal temperature.

Batteries have complex chemistry that doesn’t work as well in cold weather, so a heat pump can step in and keep the battery at the right temperature to enable better performance and especially better charging.

Heat pumps can also work in reverse if the temperature is too high for optimal battery performance.

When you set your electric car to ‘pre-condition’, the heat pump pre-conditions the battery in this way before you start driving or before a charging session.

Program an EV heat pump remotely

These days, almost all new electric cars come with smartphone apps that allow you to remotely set your heat pump and prepare the car’s cabin for the perfect temperature, or defrost the car while it’s still charging, which also helps to maintain range.

It also means you can stay nice and warm inside before getting into an equally nice and warm car.

Do heat pumps work at all temperatures?

Yes, that’s right, so you don’t have to live in a country with sub-zero temperatures to benefit from this – wet, cold and miserable Blighty is perfect for EV heat pumps.

Do all electric cars come with heat pumps? How much does it cost to get one?

A lot of newer EVs come with heat pumps, but not all.

Luxury brands like BMW and Tesla offer heat pumps as standard in all their electric cars, as do some more affordable brands like Renault.

However, many brands don’t offer them as standard, such as Audi, Skoda and Volkswagen, and you have to buy one as an option.

Heat pumps usually cost around £1,000 to add as an optional extra, but many higher trim specifications will include one even if the base specification doesn’t, so it’s worth checking that out if you’re unsure between trims.

Is a heat pump worth it?

Although over £1,000 is a significant extra expense, it’s one of the most valuable extras – and much more useful in the long run than a swish speaker system.

If you are someone who needs to use every kilometer of range from your EV and you regularly make long journeys, then it is definitely worth it, especially if you use the fast charging network.

If you travel shorter distances and charge at home it may be a less valuable extra to opt for as it takes much longer to recoup the costs, but it is still very useful if the EV comes with it as standard.