In brief cabin warmth on cold days is provided via resistance heating which as you note uses a lot of current.
Electric car heating system.
The early nissan leafs pre 2013 used resistive heating.
The more rapidly you discharge a battery the more heat it generates.
Electric car drivers now have one more reason to love the summer because in the winter the vehicle s range declines markedly due to the additional energy demanded by the heating system.
Batteries work based on the principle of a voltage differential and at high temperatures the electrons inside become excited which decreases the difference in voltage between the two sides of the battery.
Additionally a large matched dynamic fan provides maximum air flow with minimum turbulence and noise gently distributing warmth throughout your space.
That s a big disadvantage.
An electric vehicle is approx 80 energy efficient meaning there is some waste heat available from the power electronics the motor and battery pack.
It greatly improves power consumption when the heater is being used.
Nissan leaf is the first mass produced vehicle in the world to employ a heat pump cabin heater.
However the chevy volt offers heated driver and front passenger seats and.
In production evs most of these parts have a liquid coolant system so cabin heating can be plumbed in exactly like a conventional car heater system and or into climate controlled seats.
An electric car does things differently because there is no engine and so delivering power to the ac and just about everything else is determined by the amount of stored battery energy.
To help system improvements now underway in fully electric vehicles engineers had to move away from the vehicle s ability to use the large amount of excess heat produced by internal combustion engines.
The dr 975 uses spiral steel metal sheath electric heating elements with low sheath temperatures providing uniform heat and long lasting product life.
In climates where electric cars are or will be a major part of the transportation load from now on consumers demand efficient and powerful heating and cooling in their vehicles.
In extremely cold environments we could see as much as a 50 percent loss in range for a battery electric car.