Comments on: Poll: Volt Will Offer a Low Power HVAC Option, Will You Choose it?

By: teds

teds — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:08:45 +0000

really depends on the range you need! If you are on a short trip to the store then crank up that HVAC!

By: Jason the Saj

Jason the Saj — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:18:03 +0000

Things I’d like to see in way of heating/cooling:

1) Small solar panel to power a fan to suck out hot interior air during the summer.

2) Heated seat option. These heated up quickly in my Durango and often provided enough comfort on chilly but not freezing days.

3) Left/right heating options. This alone could potentially save a fortune in wasted heat. So many times I want it cold, and my wife wants it hot. So we close all the vents on one side, blow heat on my wife’s side and I roll down the window. I think implementing a heating/vent system that can be set to a given side. Even allowing cool air to vent to one side and hot to the other would make a lot of sense.

4) I am curious if a system could be built off the regenerative breaking system in later Volt models. To essentially suck up heat from breaking and warm a small oil filled radiator/heat circulator. Might provide a more economical low heat system.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:48:22 +0000

I voted doesn’t matter. I really depends on the weather though. Even a conventional ICE takes a while to get comfortable in the bitter cold and a scorching hot day no AC is instantly comfortable. So it sort of depends on the initial conditions and particular trip what I’d rather have the HVAC do.

By: Timaaayyy!!!

Timaaayyy!!! — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:21:20 +0000

I vote for whatever produces a mistake-free Volt.

The growing list of permutations says the programming bugs will be running about.

By: ClarksonCote

ClarksonCote — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:28:12 +0000

The ICE takes a while to produce heat in the winter time anyway. So a gradual warm up is fine.

You touch on an interesting benefit of EV’s here, Rashiid. For the people who prefer comfort over range, an electrically-driven vehicle such as the Volt should provide instant heat when you go into the car, rather than a gradual temperature increase like an ICE.

Perhaps this draw will still be limited somewhat in colder weather due to battery concerns, but since driving the car takes much more energy than heating the cabin, I’m guessing not. Either way, I’m sure the cabin will heat up much faster than an ICE when people don’t choose an Eco-HVAC mode.

Just another benefit of driving electric!