🚖Toyota Prius Prime Has Breakthrough Heat Pump System,
Bumps Electric Range Up 21% In Cold Heating is generally one of the weakest points for all-electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles because you can’t typically use waste heat from the engine, while operating in all-electric mode.
Toyota Prius Prime
Electric heating uses a lot of valuable energy from the battery (up to several kWh per hour of driving), which affects range – mostly in cars with small batteries. Heating seats and the steering wheel is a good supplement to lower general cabin heating.
Some manufacturers use heat pumps (reverse air-conditioning), which is able to lower the energy usage by a magnitude of two to three.
However, the efficiency of the heat pump decreases in low temperatures, so the heat pump doesn’t improve efficiency (or is unavailable) under 0C or -10C. That’s when you need the heat the most.
Toyota has upgraded the heat pump system in the new Prius Prime to increase overall efficiency and extend the operating range of temperatures, through reusing warm vapor (separated from the liquid and injected into the compressor again, bypassing the condenser).