Smart heating panels to increase thermal comfort and efficiency

Area of Science:

• Automotive Engineering
• Thermal Management
• Energy Efficiency

Background:

• Electrification of vehicles presents challenges for passenger cabin thermal comfort and electric driving range.
• Conventional electric air heating systems reduce driving range due to high energy consumption.

Purpose of the Study:

• To achieve rapid cabin heating for thermal comfort and high energy efficiency to maximize electric driving range.
• To reconcile the conflicting objectives of fast heat-up and energy efficiency in electric vehicle cabins.

Main Methods:

• Utilized low-temperature radiation heating to reduce energy-intensive cabin air heating.
• Redesigned the passenger cabin, optimizing the dashboard for targeted heat radiation to passengers.
• Employed a 2D simplification of complex 3D geometry for computational efficiency in optimization.

Main Results:

• Developed and integrated a novel radiation heating system into a class A vehicle.
• Achieved energy savings of approximately 30% compared to conventional methods.
• Validated the approach through objective thermal comfort measurements and subjective passenger ratings.

Conclusions:

• The developed approach successfully balances fast thermal comfort with increased energy efficiency.
• The novel heating system demonstrates promising performance based on objective and subjective evaluations.
• Optimized cabin design and targeted radiation heating are key to enhancing electric vehicle comfort and range.