Heat Pump

[Beasts]

Just read an article from Tesla about a new heat pump to improve mileage in the winter by capturing excess heat from the battery and use it to heat the cabin in winter. Is there a retrofit for cars built before this became standard equipment?

 

[Ostrichsak]

Just read an article from Tesla about a new heat pump to improve mileage in the winter by capturing excess heat from the battery and use it to heat the cabin in winter. Is there a retrofit for cars built before this became standard equipment?

Nope. The "heat pump" is an idea more than it is is a part, if that makes sense. It literally uses waste energy that would normally be lost as heat from items that are in your vehicle already like motors and such. As such, it's not a contained part you replace your current heating system with. It's a deep concept but there's a really good video on YouTube that explains every aspect of it and it's impressive. They developed ways to run blower motors and other smaller devices in a lossy state (less efficient) intentionally to generate heat when needed and then capture that heat to move where it's needed. It's a very cool solution and the engineers earned their money on the newer heat pump system in these vehicles. Sadly, this means it's not backwards compatible as it's connected to just about every accessory and moving part in the vehicle itself other than suspension & braking components. Perhaps that's next, who knows. Seems far fetched but some of the stuff they made a reality with this system seemed far fetched not that long ago so I try not to discredit these concepts too much.

ETA: I found the YouTube video. It's over an hour long but fascinating if you're into how things work and using engineering to solve problems and improve upon design.

 

[Beasts]

Ostrichsak,
I watched the short video that came with the email and thought that was probably the case but was still hopeful. I guess we'll just have to trade in our 21 S and get a new one. I'll try to find an hour to watch the video you suggested.
Thanks

 

[Ostrichsak]

Ostrichsak,
I watched the short video that came with the email and thought that was probably the case but was still hopeful. I guess we'll just have to trade in our 21 S and get a new one. I'll try to find an hour to watch the video you suggested.
Thanks

If your 2021 Model S is a refresh model then you already have a heat pump.

 

[Beasts]

It is! It does? Then why did I just get this email from Tesla written as if this heat pump thing was brand new to the S. Very frustrating and irritating to be so misleading! Oh yes, it's Tesla.