I'm curious if Nissan can yet say how the heater works:
* Is it a resistive heater or a heat pump?
* If a heat pump, is it a reversible heat pump (i.e., the same unit powering the AC)?
* If a heat pump, does it use motor and/or pack waste heat as the source heat well to reduce the energy required for the heat pump, or just outside air?
Obviously, the most energy-efficient case would be to use a heat pump that makes use of motor and/or pack waste heat to reduce the amount of energy needed. EVs don't put out nearly as much waste heat as gasoline cars, but they still put out some! A 90% efficient motor running at 15kW is putting out 1.5kW of waste heat, or about the heat of your average plug-in space heater. And obviously, the worst case would be a resistive heater, since that means you get a COP of just under 1.0 instead of 2-3, meaning 2 to 3 times as much energy needed to keep the car warm.
* Is it a resistive heater or a heat pump?
* If a heat pump, is it a reversible heat pump (i.e., the same unit powering the AC)?
* If a heat pump, does it use motor and/or pack waste heat as the source heat well to reduce the energy required for the heat pump, or just outside air?
Obviously, the most energy-efficient case would be to use a heat pump that makes use of motor and/or pack waste heat to reduce the amount of energy needed. EVs don't put out nearly as much waste heat as gasoline cars, but they still put out some! A 90% efficient motor running at 15kW is putting out 1.5kW of waste heat, or about the heat of your average plug-in space heater. And obviously, the worst case would be a resistive heater, since that means you get a COP of just under 1.0 instead of 2-3, meaning 2 to 3 times as much energy needed to keep the car warm.