Mach-E retail deliveries begin! -- First to customer in Dallas

[Jimrpa]

I‘d rather have a heated windshield.

Ford introduced a heated windshield under the brand name quick clear in Lincolns in the mid 1970s, then abandoned the technology. I’ve never understood why. My understanding is that they laminated a thin conductive layer in the windscreen. Perhaps the cost was too high for consumers?

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[generaltso]

Ford introduced a heated windshield under the brand name quick clear in Lincolns in the mid 1970s, then abandoned the technology. I’ve never understood why. My understanding is that they laminated a thin conductive layer in the windscreen. Perhaps the cost was too high for consumers?

I think Ford still offers heated windshields in Europe. I'm not sure why that option is so much more common over there. It particularly makes sense in an EV when you don't need heat, but you need your windshield de-fogged.

 

[Dr Obnxs]

Heat pumps only need a tempurature difference to work. Problem with cars is if they sit off for a long time, everything is the same temp.

 

[ClaudeMach-E]

Most HVAC guys will swear that heat pumps will not work below 40 degrees (F) and therefore cannot be used in places like Colorado. I live in Colorado, my home (3,800 sq. ft.) is all electric, including a whole house ducted heat pump system- heating/cooling. The heat pump performs at 100% down to 5 degrees (F) or less, 80% at -13 degrees (F). I have a heat kit attached to the air handler which is set to kick in at -5 degrees. I have yet to use the heat kit in the two winters of use, but with electric heat you will, of course, use more kWhs overall. The heat pump works great winter and summer and in summer my solar array produces many more kWhs than I use in summer and overall for the year. Great for Xcel, they get a lot of production when they need it most (summer) and charge the most for usage. Since they pay me next to nothing for my production.... gee, wonder if they can eek out a living, I hope, I hope, I hope!?
The car heat pump is a scaled down version. Most of the time you will use only your seat and steering wheel heaters (they use less battery energy) for the short trips with one or two people in the car.

And I might add that efficient car heat pump not only recuperates heat from the air but from the coolant circulating in the battery and motors, and that is the main reason they are efficient also in cold temperatures.

 

[eager2own]

Heat pumps only need a tempurature difference to work. Problem with cars is if they sit off for a long time, everything is the same temp.

That is a very inaccurate statement. Heat pumps don’t stop working because there’s no temperature differential between outside and inside temps. I think you’re thinking of a fan or opening windows.

 

[Gimme_my_MME]

Ford introduced a heated windshield under the brand name quick clear in Lincolns in the mid 1970s, then abandoned the technology. I’ve never understood why. My understanding is that they laminated a thin conductive layer in the windscreen. Perhaps the cost was too high for consumers?

 

[Plutoman15]

so any word on then the next delivery will be? Seems they deliver maybe half a dozen and now silence again.

 

[ChasingCoral]

so any word on then the next delivery will be? Seems they deliver maybe half a dozen and now silence again.

Those were social delivery. Someone did spot another truckload and it is speculated that those are heading to CA. At this point we're primarily awaiting the majority of them to finish moving by rail for deliveries starting late January and into February.

 

[All Hat No Cattle]

Some interesting info from the Mache Club, very simplified:

Technology Configuration
When the heater is in use, the external capacitor absorbs heat from the atmosphere [1] and then compresses it into high-temperature heat [2]. The cold air in the cabin is heated [3] and hot air is blown into the cabin out of the air-conditioning grille [4]. After the heat decompresses to a low temperature, it is released out of the car [5].

In the summer, heat is absorbed from inside the cabin and released outside by the external capacitor, functioning as a cooling and heating system.

A heat-pump is unique in that with one refrigerant circuit it can be used for both cooling and heating, with the heat from the outside air being transferable to the cabin just by the power consumption of the pump.

A more efficient air-conditioning system is achieved through optimization of the heat exchanger design that implements low power consumption, along with heating and cooling according to set temperatures, and temperature control when switching between cooler and heater that optimally adjust the compressor rotation.

 

[ZSR]

Aha the Flux Capacitator??

 

[balthisar]

I can categorically state that heat pumps struggle to provide a comfortable indoor temperature when outside temperatures drop to approximately 0 C or 32 F. Below that, your electric resistance heat will occasionally kick in to assist. In simple terms, a heat pump is “air conditioning” the outside air. When it’s below freezing, you can’t really “cool” the outside air too much more (draw much heat from it). In fact, ice will begin to form on heat pump coils outside and one common way for the system to get rid of the ice is for it to run in reverse cycle for a few minutes (with the air handler off, of course) warming the outside coils. This is why you’ll occasionally see a large plume of water vapor coming from a heat pump in the winter time. Heat pumps are great when the temperature stays above the mid-30s.

I think all of that can be combated with sizing of the heat pump though, although excess capacity is generally a bad thing. I installed a ground source heat pump ("geothermal") in my last home, and it never dropped below approximately 12°C two meters underground. However it was still sized such that the electric resistance heater would come on as a second stage. There's just a certain band where they're most efficient, and you can choose that band via equipment size, but then there are other compromises.

That goes for conventional HVAC, too. If you oversize the air conditioner, it's going to be constantly cycling on and off, which is bad for comfort, but bad to the HVAC system, too.

 

[janitorjim]

Some interesting info from the Mache Club, very simplified:

6 Heat heats the heated heat to be heated

 

[TheVirtualTim]

Aha the Flux Capacitator??

You could always install a matter/antimatter drive and get heat from that. Just be careful not to inject the antimatter too quickly ... or you'll warm up your entire timezone.

 

[SebastienMachE]

Wrong direction...they’re supposed to be heading EAST ?

Or North-East!

 

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

You could always install a matter/antimatter drive and get heat from that. Just be careful not to inject the antimatter too quickly ... or you'll warm up your entire timezone.

I hear Zefram Cochran can help with that calibration. You can find him in Montana.

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