I have a megane e tech with the heat pump and honestly it isn’t really making that much of a difference in this cold weather
I believe Renault has tried to reinvent the wheel with its itteration of a heat pump –
“The heat pump takes heat from the battery and electric motor – twice as efficiently as other systems, says Renault – and uses this to warm the cabin, so saving on cabin heating and battery depletion, therefore improving driving range.
The heat recovery is captured by a circuit of pipes that run through the entire battery and motor. This occurs when the battery and electric motor are under heavy load, such as during rapid recharging or when driving on motorways.” ((there is no mention of a compressor & evaporator, probably why it works best under heavy load)
Hyundai/Kia’s heat pump also said to be industry leading (the mind boggles) in 2014 the heat pump, Comprising of a compressor, evaporator and condenser, the heat pump captured waste heat given off by the vehicle’s electrical components, recycling this energy to heat the cabin more efficiently.
Hyundai and Kia’s heat pump technology made its debut six years ago on the first-generation Kia Soul EV. Since then, the industry-leading heat pump technology has been developed further for new EVs from Hyundai and Kia. It now harvests significantly more energy by recycling additional waste heat not only from power electrics (PE) modules (such as drive motors, on-board chargers, and inverters), but also from the battery pack and slow charger.
The system uses the heat generated by these components to vaporize refrigerant from liquid to gas form. High-pressure gas is discharged from the compressor and forced into a condenser to be converted back into a liquid. This process generates additional heat energy that is recovered by the heat pump and used to warm the cabin.
The Kona electric won Norwegian real-range validation test and is the same technology used in the i6 and other EV’s from the brand.
That said heat pumps start to become less effecive below -3