Classic Retrofit : Electric AC & Heat!

[Nditiz1]

If you are referencing the CR AC blower box gen 1 and 2 then you should be blocking that off completely with the foam piece supplied plus an additional fill in. An even better method would be a piece of plastic, but the foam does a good job blocking. In a pinch you could use duct tape. Bottom line should already be blocked, so block accordingly.

[RDM]

This is simply (ha! Simply!) a heat pump. It's how I heat my house, right down to the COP.

Edit: Does this qualify for the Federal tax credit for all-electric, energy efficient appliances? I think it's 30%.

[Jonny H]

Originally Posted by RDM

This is simply (ha! Simply!) a heat pump. It's how I heat my house, right down to the COP.

Edit: Does this qualify for the Federal tax credit for all-electric, energy efficient appliances? I think it's 30%.

Absolutely! We are not the first people to use a heat pump in a car - most premium EVs have them now.

We are pretty sure that we are the first company to have a heat pump system that works at 12V and certainly the first to have one in an air-cooled 911!

It has taken a year of negotiations with the manufacturer to make this pump for us as well as testing both in China and the UK.

[RDM]

Heat pumps (ducted or non-ducted) rated as "energy star" get a 30% tax credit.

Skylights with a solar-powered shade get you 30% credit on the entire skylight and the installation cost, so the law isn't exactly tightly written. Seems like we could work this.....

[LukasM]

How has the testing been going Jonny, has the updated unit with proven as capable during the blistering hot (at least down here in Austria) summer?

[jungspike]

Jonny, what is the timeline for getting this on the market?

[Jonny H]

Originally Posted by jungspike

Jonny, what is the timeline for getting this on the market?

Aiming to launch in March 2025.

Testing has gone well over summer with the AC - no noticeble drop in performance compared to the AC only system.

This will be the second Winter of testing. At 2,500W, the heating exceeds the output of a Webasto and will easily clear a screen AND heat the car.

[evan9eleven]

Getting both heat and AC, and being able to run headers in the future, are the tipping point for me.

Johnny, will you take pre-orders at some point? I'll be reassembling my car this winter and in to next spring so it could be good timing.

With the new unit work with your Gen2 blower by the way?

[Brookieslayer]

Originally Posted by Jonny H

Aiming to launch in March 2025.

Testing has gone well over summer with the AC - no noticeble drop in performance compared to the AC only system.

This will be the second Winter of testing. At 2,500W, the heating exceeds the output of a Webasto and will easily clear a screen AND heat the car.

This is a great timeline for a new product.
Thanks for all you and your team do Jonny!

[jungspike]

I'll be second in line behind evan9eleven on the pre-orders!!!

[MikeD930]

Jonny...can existing CR electric AC be retrofitted or will a new complete kit be required?

[LukasM]

Originally Posted by Jonny H

Aiming to launch in March 2025.

Testing has gone well over summer with the AC - no noticeble drop in performance compared to the AC only system.

This will be the second Winter of testing. At 2,500W, the heating exceeds the output of a Webasto and will easily clear a screen AND heat the car.

Great to hear that Jonny. Will the new gen system also include a complete replacement of the (restrictive) stock blend valves and tubing?

Sounds like Julian and a few others have had great success improving air flow performance by doing that, even with the weaker/slower gen 1 blower fitted.

Originally Posted by MikeD930

Jonny...can existing CR electric AC be retrofitted or will a new complete kit be required?

I don't want to speak for Jonny but he has posted somewhere that he plans to offer an upgrade kit.

[LukasM]

Answering my own questions here, as I found some more info on the CR website under the news section:

https://www.classicretrofit.com/blogs/news/2025-is-the-year-of-the-heat-pump-for-porsche-911s

The new system now is going away from the stock mechanical blend valves and replacing it with servos and a new panel. Hopefully that now also means bigger diameter tubing throughout the system, which was a bottleneck on the old version.

There are a few sneak pics for the RHD cars, none yet for LHD though.








Target for start of sales is summer 2025!

[evan9eleven]

Originally Posted by evan9eleven

Johnny, will you take pre-orders at some point? I'll be reassembling my car this winter and in to next spring so it could be good timing.

With the new unit work with your Gen2 blower by the way?

Still hoping for an answer on this. Jonny?

Originally Posted by LukasM

Answering my own questions here, as I found some more info on the CR website under the news section:

https://www.classicretrofit.com/blogs/news/2025-is-the-year-of-the-heat-pump-for-porsche-911s

The new system now is going away from the stock mechanical blend valves and replacing it with servos and a new panel. Hopefully that now also means bigger diameter tubing throughout the system, which was a bottleneck on the old version.

Great info Lukas!

[jrwilson]

I wonder also if they will fix the temp sensor placement so it's more foolproof in this new unit.

[Jonny H]

@Lukas, yes because the heat/cold is now 'sourced' only from the blower, the new blend valves do not need to be divided into 2 compartments for hot/cold as they were originally. This means the internal cross section is much bigger.

RHD is the more challenging install, because the brake booster is on the same side as the refrigerant lines. The lines are now custom aluminium hard lines (some with flexible tube) that fit snug around the frunk. The compressor/battery mount fits in the same space as the battery on a G model. This layout will be the same for LHD / RHD (so no smuggler's box version). Under the fenders, flexible lines are used which still allows for different condenser options.

@evan9eleven, yes the Gen2 blower can be used with the heat pump.

@jrwilson, the temp sensors will have dedicated mounting points.

We are currently in final winter test. I drove the car 200 miles on Thursday in just below 0 deg C. I got the cabin to 27 deg C so we are happy with that.

[Jonny H]

[jrwilson]

Will there be an upgrade option for existing installations? It looks like everything is new.

[almostordinary]

Just curious on any updates here?

The AC $ystem I installed last spring is shot. And I deleted Heat when I had the rocker rust repaired (didn't install the internal ducting, committed heat delete).

Thanks!
Ian

[TeeJayHoward]

Will the new compressor/heat pump still fit in the smuggler's box?