During the last period of the project all the developments have been implemented in the car and compared to state-of-art vehicle of the same characteristics in a climate chamber. Different climate conditions have been applied and energy consumption needed to ensure thermal comfort has been monitored.
Thermoelectric Joule and Peltier effects have shown significant potential in terms of reducing the amount of energy used for heating and cooling in electric vehicle cabins. A heating system based on the Joule effect, creates a radiant heating in the vehicle cabin which combined with fresh air fans for air renovation results in an improvement on the passenger thermal comfort sensation. Thermoplastic panels and thermoset textiles were developed as heating elements which were able to reduce the energy consumption with at least 30 % compared to existing PTC heaters. Climatic chamber tests were carried out to simulate extreme climate conditions in the car and thermal comfort was evaluated with sensors (ISO14505-2) and real passengers (ISO14505-3). JOSPEL heating solutions were close to perfection as the warm body with fresh air from the fans resulted in a thermal comfort classification of neutral-slightly warm.
In addition to developing new heating and cooling systems based on thermoelectric technology and effects, JOSPEL has applied optimized thermal management to the battery and other vehicle components, and together with eco-driving technologies, the project has achieved further energy reductions of 24 %. Last but not least, lightweight technologies and improved cabin insulation using new glazing designs shaves an additional 3 % off the energy consumption. With this holistic approach to energy management, JOSPEL has reduced the energy consumption related to passenger comfort systems with a total of 57 %-. Moreover, battery life was extended in a 15% thanks to its improved thermal management.
