In order to reduce the range of the electric cars from Hyundai to a lesser extent when using the heating, the developers have further improved the heat pump system. The South Koreans have been using heat pump technology in their electric vehicles for six years. The further developed system is used in new models of the brand and the sister company Kia.
The company advertises that the technology, consisting of a compressor, an evaporator and a condenser, is an innovation in heat management. The waste heat from the vehicle’s electrical components is absorbed by the heat pump and used to heat the interior without significantly affecting the electrical range. By absorbing additional waste heat, which is no longer obtained exclusively from electrical components such as drive motors, on-board chargers and inverters, but also from the battery pack, the heat pump ensures that less electricity is used when the vehicle heater is used.
The system uses the heat generated by the components to evaporate liquid refrigerant. The gas is then expelled from the compressor under high pressure, passed into a condenser and converted there into a liquid state. This process generates additional heat energy, which is recovered by the heat pump and used to heat the interior. At the same time, this increases the efficiency of the heating and air conditioning system, reduces battery power consumption and thus increases the range of the electric car.
According to Hyundai, a study conducted by the Korean Ministry of the Environment with the Kona Elektro showed that using the heat pump significantly reduces battery consumption in cold conditions. At temperatures of -7 degrees, the model still offers 90 percent of the measured range at 26 degrees ambient temperature when the air conditioning is switched on. For electric cars from other manufacturers, the range was reduced by 18 to 43 percent under the same test conditions.
Hyundai points to further innovations in the current generation of its electric cars. Instead of conventional air cooling, the use of a water cooling system for the battery has a positive effect on the range of the vehicles without the need for a larger energy store. The water cooling ducts required less space than the air cooling ducts, the battery cells could therefore be packed closer together and the energy density increased by up to 35 percent.
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