Quote:
Originally Posted by techweenie
This question doesn't apply to the Volt since it has an internal combustion engine. GM engineers made huge power reserves on these cars for cold weather use and also to offset battery degradation over time. Electrically heating air does use a lot of juice, but if you invoke the gas engine (easy to do on demand), the coolant goes through a heater core just like a "normal" car.
They spent 5 years developing the Volt hybrid system, and it's pretty impressive to me. I just turned 23K miles and have had no issues.
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Thanks - that makes a lot more sense to me than relying on strictly electric resistance. Sort of like Janitrol units in some twin-engine airplanes I've flown (it's a pain and a lot of extra weight to run ducted hot air from wing mounted engines to the cabin so they install what effectively is a small jet engine that only exists to create cabin air heat and in a few cases, emergency reserve electricity).
It sounds like these would actually hold their own in bad conditions which is pretty nice to know. Thanks.