3 ms·

Here's a video with a Tesla Model 3 keeping the cabin at 21 C for 71 hours in -4 C (24.8 F) weather. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpzB3RbjuHI https://www.yo

Here's a video with a Tesla Model 3 keeping the cabin at 21 C for 71 hours in -4 C (24.8 F) weather. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpzB3RbjuHI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpzB3RbjuHI That car has a heat pump for cabin heat, which has a coefficient of performance of 3-4. That means you only need 1/3 of the heat energy as electrical input. Compare that to a gasoline engine, where almost all the energy in your fuel is wasted as heat outside the cabin. I don't know what fraction actually makes it into the cabin - but I'm guessing it's single digit percent.

SigmundA 5y ago
Heat pumps drop in efficiency the colder it gets and only work down to a certain temp. If the outside coils get too cold they freeze up preventing it from functioning properly. would be interesting to know how cold the Tesla heat pump can operate down to and if it has resistive backup. Edit: looks like the heat pump only works down to about 14F then it runs the heat pump in recirculation mode to basically turning it into a resistive heater with COP 1, its also seems to have 12v aux heat strips.