Heat pumps in electric vehicles make a big difference in cold weather driving

Many electric vehicle manufacturers have relied heavily on energy-guzzling resistive heaters to keep the cabin and battery warm in the winter. But heat pumps, which can reduce battery range loss in the cold, are becoming more widespread in electric vehicles, and could help U.S. EV owners who are dealing with freezing temperatures in much of the country this week.

EV Research website Repeated reported Heat pumps can improve driving range in below-freezing temperatures by about 8 to 10 percent. The site tested this by comparing 2020 Model 3 and Model S ranges that lack heat pumps with 2021 versions that have them.

Recurrent data shows that the Tesla Model The Washington Post NotesWhich makes it one of the best electric cars equipped with heat pumps.. However, The Washington Post He says heat pumps are not effective below 15 degrees.

A heat pump works by efficiently transferring the heat generated by the vehicle to the cabin and other components. Likewise, gas vehicles have long used a heater core to transfer waste heat energy from the internal combustion engine to the cabin.

Heat pumps made their way into popular electric cars like Teslas as early as 2021, and are coming to other top models like Ford’s Mustang Mach-E. For the 2025 model year. It’s also already in many electric vehicles on the road today, including the Polestar 2, Honda Prologue, Chevy Equinox EV, Kia EV6, Rivians, and even some Nissan Leaf models as early as 2013. Complete list Of electric vehicles that have heat pumps.

Older EVs with smaller batteries that lack heat pumps show cold range loss more clearly. For example, my sister, who drives a 2017 Ford Focus Electric, only gets about 80 miles of range in extreme cold with her resistive heaters off and only about 50 miles with them on. This could be the difference between being able to take a full round-trip business trip without stopping or having to find a (hopefully working) DC fast charging station on the way back.

We have previously shared some tips about How to deal with electric vehicles in the winter It can help you in icy situations on the road. Some tips include pre-conditioning your car while plugged in before leaving and removing snow often because it won’t melt off the hood like a gas car.