Real impact of aircon on EV range

[dukeinlondon]

The EV range estimation drops by around 8 miles as soon as I put the aircon on. I looks very pessimistic to me as it is essentially a heat pump and if anything, should cause less of a hit on range than the electric heater.

Has anyone seen what the real EV range drop is with the aircon on and does it tally with the estimate the car gives?

 

[maby]

It may only be a heat pump, but a car is a heat trap - just think how hot it gets even on a relatively cool summer day. The portable air conditioner that struggles to keep our bedroom cool in the summer draws over 3KW - I can easily imagine that a car aircon can suck 1KW on a sunny day.

 

[gwatpe]

The summers here in Australia are renowned for high ambient temperatures. I will make sure that before I take the car out that I will plug the car into the power point and enable the aircon before going out. May even need a couple of sessions on the 40+ days. Lucky I have a big solar panel on the house roof that can supply the needed energy. Once the car is being driven then ICE should help out. Have not seen a summer yet, so this is all speculation.

The battery can supply between 30 and 90min of driving range, depending on the EV speeds with no aircon use. I guess that the calculation of the loss of range from Aircon use would change the time to save between 20min and 40min.

Precooling the car would certainly help for a 20min drive. The slower speed 40min drive would certainly require more battery. I equate the numbers to time rather than distance now.

 

[chindley]

The summers here in Australia are renowned for high ambient temperatures. I will make sure that before I take the car out that I will plug the car into the power point and enable the aircon before going out. May even need a couple of sessions on the 40+ days. Lucky I have a big solar panel on the house roof that can supply the needed energy. Once the car is being driven then ICE should help out. Have not seen a summer yet, so this is all speculation.

The battery can supply between 30 and 90min of driving range, depending on the EV speeds with no aircon use. I guess that the calculation of the loss of range from Aircon use would change the time to save between 20min and 40min.

Precooling the car would certainly help for a 20min drive. The slower speed 40min drive would certainly require more battery. I equate the numbers to time rather than distance now.

I wonder if Black cars have less EV range than white ones due to black absorbing heat and needing more aircon to cool while white reflects it. :?

 

[sawman82]

May explain why I recently saw a black demo PHEV with only 2000km on the clock for about $3000 cheaper than all the others.

 

[Hypermiler]

Keeping cooler in summer was one reason we went for a pale colour, when we get a summer that is!