A lot of attention has been given to fuel economy for travel. However, the power requirements of vehicle cooling and heating then begin to loom large, and are as yet woefully unaddressed.
Cooling may be a luxury, but people in hot climates demand it. Heating on the other hand, is a matter of health and safety here in Alaska. It is often difficult just to keep the ice off the windshield here, both the interior and exterior. Driving to Fairbanks in winter I have encountered temperatures near -40 deg. F. A 32 mpg vehicle (Ford Contour) just does not put out enough heat to make that safe and comfortable. People here are not likely to go for an electric vehicle without adequate heat. It is not fuel efficient to have to let a vehicle warm up for 15 or 20 miuntes in order to be able to scrape the ice off the windows. The only way to combat the heating and cooling problem is insulation, which is poor to non-existent in most cars. Good thermal insulation also has the advantage of reducing road noise as well. With good design, it could improve crash worthiness as well. A twin pane windshield, and windows for that matter, with a plastic inner pane, could provide a vapor free window interior with local active heating. This would help keep reduce that nasty wind-in-the-face effect from the windshield defrosting fan - which is so annoying to some people, especially contact wearers. It would also reduce the energy required to maintain visibility. Regards, Horace Heffner
