A heat pump would help in cool weather, but I haven’t heard of any auto makers using one that actually works well once temperatures drop below freezing. I don’t know if Ford does much of the elaborate heat scavenging that you see in Teslas, but I suspect that there are worthwhile gains to be made there. If there’s a reasonable way to insulate the cabin and/or battery, those both seem like things that would help a lot. A more effectively insulated battery would need more active cooling in the summer, but I would gladly trade a bit of efficiency in the summer if it meant that the car wasn’t straining to keep the battery at temp in the winter.
Newer heat pumps can easily and effectively heat the car down to 10 degrees F, although heat pumps provide a greater advantage when the temp is above 20 degrees F. That said, heat pumps do NOT make or break an EV design, and they matter even less when you precondition your car before leaving in the morning. I own one EV with a heat pump and one without, and the ownership experience is about the same w/r/t cabin heating and driving efficiency.
It's all how you use it. Heat pumps help significantly in motor heat scavenging. It could also scavenge battery heat while charging using less energy. Tesla's use of them yields results that aren't even in the same league as resistance heaters. Huge difference.
That's a pretty good list. Heat pump as others have said seems like another no brainer.
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Weight for sure is the enemy but it’s also a double edged sword.That's a pretty good list. Heat pump as others have said seems like another no brainer.
The thing that folks are not talking about though, is weight reduction. They really need to cut the meat to the bone with regards to weight. That is something that Tesla is constantly doing - reducing weight everywhere (though admittedly at the cost of things like wiper stalks). Ford needs to have each department / supplier / etc. commit to lowering weight in their respective components. If they can get 200 lbs or more total from the car, it would increase the efficiency, although that might be a tough target.
The other thing would be to tweak the aero. Any and all lowering of the cD (especially along with weight reduction) will greatly increase highway range, which is where the Mach E suffers, particularly in winter. My guess would be, there's not much gain here to be had, but they need to squeeze the blood from the stone because the competition is. Just don't go so far it looks like a dead catfish
btw, the new Kia EV 9 has wireless CarPlay. So obviously, they have perfected that technology and most likely will be employing it in their new cars going forward.
Yeah I'm not confident the magical solves-every-problem solid state battery arrives on the scene within the next decade at least maybe two or more.
Luckily I am really happy with my Mach e GTPE. It is just what I expected. I am retired and charge at home and drive my Maverick if I am going farther than 200 miles round trip. The public has realized that an EV with the current infrastructure is not a good option if it’s your go to work car. It will be 2026 or 27 before we make a dent in charger availability and battery development. All EV sales have fallen off a cliff because everyone that can currently use one has one and some people that bought one will go back to ICE because the current state of EV infrastructure will not support their lifestyle. Don’t expect any of the auto companies to throw much development money at EV’s until the market to sell them improves greatly.
