RickMachE

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 1, 2021
Threads
267
Messages
17,897
Reaction score
27,849
Location
SE MI
Vehicles
2022 Mach-E Premium 4X, 2022 Lightning Lariat ER
Country flag
It's from an info icon accessible in the climate settings menu.


One thought about the servicing for these: since the "Heat Pump Assembly" is a single integrated unit, I assume most technicians will just replace the whole thing if there is an issue. Sort of like how a failed motor inverter or DC-DC converter are probably just replaced instead of taken apart and repaired. So technicians might not be expected to understand heat pumps on that deep a level (such as trying to find which of the three expansion valves is bad)

Anyway I hooked up CarScanner and watched the power draw during startup. You can't read as many sensors on 2025+ models due to new "encryption" protocols on the CANBUS, but here's what I could gather.
Exterior temp 26F, climate set to 70.
Accessory mode (headlights off): ~0.32kw
Initial power draw: ~7kw for a few minutes, then slowly ramps down.
Steady state after about 10 minutes: ~1kw.

So I guess the heat pump draws around 0.7kw to maintain cabin heat? Not sure how that compares to PTC heater-only models.
They draw 5 (early years) and then 7 as I recall.
Sponsored

 

RWG

Well-Known Member
First Name
Randal
Joined
Jan 16, 2022
Threads
0
Messages
169
Reaction score
231
Location
Chaska Minnesota
Vehicles
2021 Mach E
Occupation
Retired
Country flag
That's good data however it does not indicate heat output at different ambient temps. By default as ambient temps decrease pump heat output will decrease to. Also heat leakage from the cabin will increase as ambient temps decrease. So overall it is a bit of a science project to determine heat output and load. To add to the complications cabin heat leakage will vary significantly when to car is moving. Cabin heat loss is very different at 70 mph vs. 10 mph.

When it comes to repairs, normally on HVAC system I only replaced the part that failed not the whole system, the would be cost prohibitive. In addition one of the significant costs of fixing an AC system ,heat pump or standard AC is you have to manage / remove and replace the refrigerant. When I was doing that as a tradesman anybody could buy refrigerant by the pound. Now refrigerants have changed and sold by the ounce and it's much more expensive and I don't think you can even buy refrigerant unless you have a government (EPA) issued certificate/permit/license. The regulations all tightened up after the Montreal Protocol , 1987, was globally implemented to control holes in the ozone. Ironically this all became mute when the world decided Global warming was a bigger issue. As a result of the Montreal ProtocolL an entire category of refrigerants we used for decades became obsolete and then within a few years the entire industry got turned upside down again as non global agent warming refrigerants were introduced and no you normally CANNOT put old style refrigerants in new systems. That is kinda like putting gasoline in your diesel ICE vehicle. Not good.


When Kigali Amendment, 2016, was added to the Montreal Protocol, of 1987 everybody in the HVAC business had to start over in the formulation of refrigerants and the design of HVAC systems. Fortunately the new refrigerants and systems perform like legacy systems but they all use different and more expensive refrigerants and service techs cannot use their old tools, gauges, evacuation pumps, for fear of cross contamination and expensive regulatory violations. So if your a current HVAC tech working on pre - 1987 systems and everything else up to today, you will need some of the nearly same tools 3 times over and you must be certified because of government regulations. (You an be criminally charged and fined if you work on refrigeration systems without a license or illegal equipment. It's the law.)


I am glad to be retired, I have one set of pre 1987 tools , that I don't use, and wouldn't want to have 3 sets.

Sorry for the long narrative but it is a complicated subject that most people don't understand and this evolutionary change in. refrigerants impacts your vehicles, your refrigerator, your dehumidifier, and your car AC, the refrigeration & AC systems of your favorite grocery store, etc.. There are now literally millions of residential & commercial home AC systems now using R22 refrigeration which is technically discontinued and illegal to make. To repair one of these old systems you can only source used refrigerant and you may pay $300 per pound. When I was doing that type of work new R22 sold for about $3 per pound. At typical residential AC unit may have about 10 lbs. ($300) A car A/C system used to have a couple lbs. of R12 and then R134a and now R-1234yf which costs $3.50 to$5.00 per ounce! All of these old and new refrigerants have similar thermo dynamic qualities/specs. But each was designed to meet the needs of the industry and regulations at the time and each one costs more to accomplish the same thermal performance, at a much higher price.

Even though the EPA has recently dropped Global Warming. regulations, if you are a vehicle OEM selling cars outside the USA, I don't see the the USA OEM industry going back to the legacy refrigerant technologies. If they did they couldn't' sell any cars in other global markets, they have to comply with local regulations.

The whole world is using the new stuff and going back would cost $ billions, for no benefit, and in a few years might get changed again



Amen.
 

vd238

Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2026
Threads
0
Messages
7
Reaction score
12
Location
Massachusetts
Vehicles
2025 Mach-E Select
They draw 5 (early years) and then 7 as I recall.
That is at full-blast though right? I assume once desired cabin temp is reached, the resistive heaters would ramp power down.

To add to the complications cabin heat leakage will vary significantly when to car is moving. Cabin heat loss is very different at 70 mph vs. 10 mph
That is a good point! I measured while parked, but maybe heat pump would draw more power when moving.
Sponsored

 
 







Top