To cabin heat an EV or not to cabin heat — in the cold

Cabin heat

We’ve have seen several mentions to not use the cabin heater in an EV in cold weather — even in vehicles with a heat pump — but to rather use the seat and steering wheel heaters for warmth in order to maintain the vehicle’s high voltage battery charge. This was even a surprising recommendation in a Hybrid manual. And we’re seeing undeniable evidence that this is true.

Note that using seat and steering wheel heaters just might shorten the life of the 12 volt battery, but that jury is still out.

So we did a video and posted it to YouTube. Sure enough you can watch the range drop as the heat is turned on in the Kia Niro. The drop is 7% immediately. Heat intended to keep the battery warm is now redirected into the cabin. Even an adjustment to the heat settings have a negative impact on range. Both with the blower and temperature.

The Polestar 2 never showed this much sensitivity on screen, but then the car annoyingly only counted down miles in groups of 10. Really hated that. It did give estimated range at the end of a trip when using mapping and that figure would be impacted by the use of heat and particularly when defrosting the windshield.

I’ve learned to use a small amount of cabin heat for only a few minutes at a time. The range tends then to return to normal in between, even in the recent 20 degree weather. A bit of battery and climate control management.

You can see the video on our YouTube channel here and below.

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