Is a Heat Pump Right For Me?

Debating whether you need a heat pump in your Electric vehicle if you live in the Lower Mainland? Whether you're in Vancouver or the surrounding areas, it's a common question we get from our customers when they are building their ID.4.

We had Bob, our owner, do some digging to find out whether a heat pump makes sense in BC, and if it is right for you.

Transcript:

Hey Everybody it's Bob from Vancouver Volkswagen.

Here to talk to you about the heat pump in your Volkswagen ID.4. As you may know, electric vehicles sometimes offer heat pumps as an alternative to the resistive heater that comes with your vehicle today.

Heat pumps create heat by compressing gas. And this process is

thought to use a little bit less energy from your electric vehicle battery which

in turn contributes to a slightly higher vehicle range.

But the question we have at Vancouver Volkswagen is: Does the investment in a heat pump make sense here in the Lower Mainland?

Let's take a look at what we found.

One of the advantages of living in Vancouver is definitely the milder climate. An advantage that we share with many other regions South of us. So our neighbours at Volkswagen of America concluded that installing a heat pump in the ID.4 simply didn't justify the investment. Although a heat pump does produce heat more efficiently than the resistive heater, it also represents an investment of 1,500 additional dollars in your ID.4. And if you lived in the Lower Mainland with the warmer climate, that simply doesn't make sense to most of us.

What we have learned from our ID.4 customers and our own experience is that an investment in a home charging solution is a much better fit. With a properly configured home charger, you'll wake up every day with a fully-charged ID.4 and you'll precondition or heat your vehicle's cabin while you are connected to the charger thereby saving energy in your EV battery and maximizing your vehicle range.