Webasto Figures 13 and 14: Diesel fuel burning parking heaters (Fig. 13 left) have been around for years helping to keep the professional over the road truck driver warm even with the tractor's engine off. Leap frogging over today's less than efficient PTC (Positive Temperature Co-efficient) heaters is the Webasto HVH (High Voltage Heater) using thin film technology. (Fig. 14 right) It is set to be into production vehicles around the 2019 model year time frame. film technology. The infinitely variable heat output ranges from 0.2 up to 5 kW. At 1.9 kg, the device is also very light. The unit is fairly compact so vehicle manufacturers have some freedom on where to mount it. Webasto says their HVHs are designed to be standard equipment and can be installed in all hybrid and electric vehicles. Technologically, it can also be used as a parking heater - the vehicle manufacturer decides whether this option is to be enabled. University of South Florida chemists. The team received $800,000 from an ARPA-E grant to develop a material called an electrical metal-organic framework, a.k.a. EMOF for advanced HVAC systems in future models. EMOF systems operate as something referred to as a molecular heat pump. They can efficiently circulate heat or cold as the driver chooses. For example a five-pound EMOF-based heat pump the size of a two-liter bottle has the ability to cool and heat a typical HEV / EV / PHEV with very little impact on range or performance. How HVH's work Another EV - Tesla . . . but are you able to work on them? The HVH is added into the cooling system of the vehicle. The heater contains a control unit, a heat exchanger as well as the heart of the device, the thin film heating element. When the heater is turned on, current flows from the battery to the heater and heats the thin film heating element. At the same time, a 12-volt coolant pump turns on and sends the water through the HVH. The unit's thin film heating element heats it to 158 deg. F (70 deg. C) and pumped to the heater core in the vehicle's HVAC system. The blower motor turns on and bam - you're not cold anymore! The question might be more accurately worded "do you even want to work on them?" I recently tried to use my normal aftermarket service information provider to research a bit on the Tesla and I found that OEM to be missing from my electronic manual. (Fig. 15) I attended an EV battery seminar at the AAPEX Show in November and discovered some startling news. One EV / HEV expert trainer who is very well versed on the subject of these vehicles shared his experience in obtaining official repair information through conventional OEM channels. He was able to obtain a short term repair manual subscription to Tesla although a little pricey - $30 for a single HOUR as opposed to the industry standard of around that much money for 24-72 hours. He was able to obtain the subscription due to the fact that he lives in and owns a com- More Promising Technologies Coming Another promising technology to heat up EVs comes from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) scientists with collaboration from some December 2017 5 MACS Service Reports