As promised, here is my one year update comparing a 2020 Freemont NCA SR+ with a 2021 MIC SR+ LFP model 3;
Efficiency
I travelled just over 12,000 miles in both cars making similar journeys, so it is possible to see the difference between a car with electrical heating compared to one that has a heat pump.
As can be seen from the graph above, the newer LFP car has a better efficiency throughout the year, but comes into its own during the cold winter months when it was ~40 w/mile more efficient! Summer time the difference is about 20 w/mile. The only time that the cars had almost the same efficiency was during the Jul-21 heatwave when the air con in the LFP car was running flat-out for most of the month.
The one year average efficiency was 278 w/mile for NCA and 242 w/mile for the LFP car.
Battery degradation
The NCA car had started life with 236 mile range at 100% SoC and after one year the BMS reported a range of 214 miles @ 100% SoC - a loss of range of ~10%.
Whereas the LFP car started life with 263 mile range at 100% and after one year the BMS reports a range of 256 miles @ 100% SoC - a loss of range of around ~2.7%.
Conclusion
The LFP car with heat pump appears to be almost 15% more efficient than my old NCA car. I didn't find any difference in comfort levels between both cars and warm-up/cool-down times seems to be the same.
According to the BMS the LFP car has a degradation rate about 4 times less than NCA battery cars, during the first year. Only time will tell how good the battery life will be over time... However the increased range, by being able to charge to 100% daily is much appreciated when it comes to making an EV car as easy to live with as an ICE car.
The way I think about it, is that the LFP SR+ car is equivalent to an ICE car with a petrol tank capacity of 5 gallons (200 miles / 40 mpg), whereas a NCA SR+ (charging to 80%) is equivalent to an ICE car with a petrol tank capacity of 4 gallons (160 miles / 40 mpg). Incidentally, a LR NCA car has a tank capacity of 280 miles / 40 mpg = 7 gallons.
The only negative I have seen is that the LFP has reduced regen compared to NCA when the temperature drops below around 12C. However that's not a bad thing as it means the brakes get used during the winter stopping them from seizing up!