Leaf Heater

[kolmstead]

Preconditioning works just fine. Well, at least the heating does. Haven't tried cooling, and I probably never will. You tell the LEAF your leaving time, and it decides when to turn on climate control. In my case, it started 25 minutes before I left and used 1.4 kWh, so I told it that I was leaving ten minutes later. Given fifteen minutes of preheat, the car is just perfect when I get in. I really like this feature. I had to do without it one day last week, and the heater pulled 5 kW for the first couple of miles, then it began tapering off. Still quicker heat than my Golf TDI.

Preconditioning works with car unplugged, but with loss of range, of course. I think you get a max of 15 minutes before it shuts off.

-Karl

 

[walterbays]

http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/car-tech/1283818/volvo-adds-ethanol-heaters-to-its-electric-cars

The clean-burning ethanol, sourced from plants rather than fossil fuels, is an interesting solution to the heating problem: while it isn't energy-dense enough to be used as a petrol substitute for a combustion engine, it burns warm enough to create an efficient heater system.