Always Get The Seat Heaters. They Could Save Your Life! – CleanTechnica

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Recently, I came across a post on X/Twitter that I know will be retweeted (or reposted, or whatever) a bunch of times by anti-EV propagandists. Why? Because everyone knows that EVs can’t handle the cold!

It has been 2.5 hours and these vehicles going westbound on I-90 have not moved.

What is going on here?!? #pawx #nywx https://t.co/fFXaSMbYdN pic.twitter.com/RC8NaaUhpi

— Kaitlyn Jesmonth (@wxkaitlynj) November 30, 2024

Weather accounts on social media have been abuzz about some severe lake-effect snow happening near the Great Lakes in recent days. For those unfamiliar, this kind of storm happens when a cold air mass (the Great Lakes are on the Canadian border) moves across the top of warmer lake water. This causes water vapor from the lakes to waft into the atmosphere, freeze, and then get deposited as snow.

The Great Lakes are the most well-known bodies of water that this happens over, but other examples include the Great Salt Lake (a diminishing phenomenon, unfortunately), and occasionally some freak occurrences near smaller bodies of water under perfect conditions. Outside of the United States it can happen over large bodies of water, sometimes including salt water in the ocean.

Lake-effect or sea-effect snows aside, blizzards can happen almost anywhere. For people who live in places that get snow every year, blizzards aren’t super rare or even uncommon, so people think about how to prepare for being stuck on a highway. It’s smart to carry some blankets, food, water, and things like handwarmers. Snow tires, chains, and such are also a good idea. But, things can be particularly bad when even a relatively mild snowstorm develops over places that rarely get snow, because nobody’s really prepared.

In other words, this is a great situation for everyone to think about, even if you live in the desert.

Why EVs Do Struggle In This Situation Compared to ICE

Honestly, yes, an EV would struggle being stuck in a snowstorm like this.

In an ICE vehicle, a running engine produces a LOT of waste heat. In fact, around 3/4 of the fuel (less for diesels, but not by much) becomes waste heat instead of moving the vehicle. This left automotive inventors and engineers almost 100 years ago with a great opportunity to heat up the interiors of vehicles during the winter. By tapping into the hot engine coolant, GM’s engineers improved on earlier designs by looping some coolant into the interior of the vehicle to a small radiator. A fan then blows air through it, heating it and providing you with warm air, all without increasing fuel consumption or requiring extra fuels.

Without nearly as much waste heat to tap into, EV engineers have struggled with how to heat up EVs without destroying range.

The cheapest and easiest solution is to replace the heater core with an electric heating element, also known as resistive heating. This works just like many space heaters at home work, and can easily heat up the interior of a car and keep it as toasty as you want. But, it also uses a lot of energy, which can negatively affect your range. Often, people pre-heat a car while plugged in before leaving for the morning to help avoid the range hit, but when you get stuck on a highway below freezing, you’ll sit there with the resistive heater running and deplete the battery, possibly causing you to not have enough range to get to the next charger. If you wait long enough (as much as 2 days on a full battery), you could run out completely.

Another great alternative to resistive heaters is the use of a heat pump. Heat pumps are a lot more efficient, and use as little as 1/4 the electricity of a resistive heater. But, depending on the heater’s design, temperatures can get low enough that the heat pump can’t work. So, the EV either activates a heat strip (a little resistive heater) or reverts to a resistive heater, causing the energy use to go back up.

The wise thing to do when there’s winter weather in the forecast is to charge up more than needed just in case something like this happens. I know it’s faster to show up with almost zero battery and then charge up just enough to barely get to the next charging station, but keeping an extra reserve in winter weather can make it possible to run the normal heater for hours without running short of range and getting stranded. Even if the heater is pulling 2000 watts continuously (they usually run less than half the time), keeping an extra 10% for emergencies can keep that going for 3 hours (but you’d likely get at least 6 hours on that).

But, what if the absolute worst happens, and you’re stuck for 12+ hours? Or worse, you’re on some back road and end up in the trees? How can you stay warm for days without running out of juice?

Seat Heaters Are Essential For Blizzard Safety In The Worst Conditions

This is where seat heaters really come in handy! Instead of burning through 1000+ watts of power to keep the vehicle warm, you can instead heat individual seats with as little as 30 watts. Combined with a light jacket to help keep the rest of your body warm and trap the heat, this can keep five people comfortable for 83 hours on only 10 kWh of battery, and far longer if you still have a lot more range.

Sadly, seat heaters don’t come standard on all EVs. Some lower packages don’t have them, so you have to spring for a higher package and spend quite a bit more to get them. But, whether you’re just seeking some extra comfort in winter, some help loosening up a sore lower back on the road, or you’re seeking to get prepared for extreme situations, it’s worth doing.

Because heated seats consume so little power, it is possible to add them to a car that came without them. There are numerous options on the market, including ones built into seat covers meant to be left there all year, heated cushions you can place part of the year, and more. You can also just carry around a typical heated blanket, as some can run on a cigarette lighter plug and basically work the same way as a heated seat. If you’re trying to heat up more than one or two seats, you may need to add some wiring directly to the 12-volt battery to power them all, as cigarette lighters can only handle around 120 watts.

Featured image by Jennifer Sensiba.