Impact of Heating System on the Range of an Electric Vehicle

For an accurate evaluation of the driving range of an electric vehicle (EV), many conditions must be considered (road profile, traffic influence, etc.). However, a cabin heating system is not often considered despite its significant impact. In this paper, the impact of the cabin heating system is studied on the driving range of an EV. A real EV is used as a reference. A multidomain model is developed and validated by experimental results on the vehicle. From this validated model, the impact of the heating system on the range is evaluated up to 30% in cold climatic conditions. In a classical approach, an eco-driving mode enables an increase in the range by reducing the vehicle acceleration and velocity. When considering the heating system, the energy balance is more complex: the eco-driving mode can lead to an over-consumption of energy. A better compromise is required as a function of the climatic condition.