Niro EV - heat pump worth holding out for?

[NiceCupOfTea]

Looking at an EV as my next daily and have been rather taken with the Niro. I'd discounted the Mk.1 (up to '22) due to potential coolant issues and the "Wheel of Fortune" noise, and was pretty sold on the updated model - however, I have discovered that, unlike the earlier version, it doesn't come with a heat pump as standard.

I am guessing I probably won't notice around town (and anyway range wouldn't be a problem), but my concern is I will do the occasional long journey and in winter I have seen it suggested that range might drop to 165 miles (from 250+). Is that really true, and would the heat pump make that much of a difference? Unfortunately it seems impossible to tell whether the car has one without inspecting in person and I have seen it suggested that it wasn't a very popular option due to it being a £900 option.

Is it a dealbreaker?

[PetrolHeadInRecovery]

Not a showstopper based on our experience with an Ioniq 5.

I think the range penalty is based on standard temperature setting (ADAC target is 20-23 degrees at the driver's here level, which might require higher temperature setting and not be comfortable).

Dropping the target temperature a bit (to a level that is comfortable with an extra layer of clothes) makes a big difference. Driving alone, seat and steering wheel heaters take very little power and allow dropping the cabin temperature further if you need to stretch the range.

[Magic919]

Have they sorted out the zombie mode problem?

[PetrolHeadInRecovery]

Magic919 said:

Have they sorted out the zombie mode problem?

In Ioniq 5? Don't know.

Encountered twice a few years back, all it took was switching the car off and immediately on again. About as dramatic as turning the starter motor on an ICE car and the engine not catching.

[Magic919]

In the Kia Nero. The fix involved disconnecting the 12V battery when a friend’s car suffered it.

[POIDH]

I'm not totally sold on a heat pump unless you do long journeys a lot in winter. Particularly if you have to pay more for it.
Any EV will lose range in winter but that's down to batteries, wet roads and wind. How much of the loss is heating? Besides which, we are talking a couple of minutes extra charging to cover the heating on a long winter run.
I've a Polestar 2 whit without heat pump - 260-290 miles in summer (against 340 odd stated) and 200-250 winter.

[Sheepshanks]

POIDH said:

I'm not totally sold on a heat pump unless you do long journeys a lot in winter.

I think the best case use for a heat pump is the other extreme - lots of short journeys in winter, where full power heating is needed to warm the car from cold. But then, in that use case, range isn't really an issue.

I've seen long range comparisons with / without heat pump and there wasn't much in it.


If heat pump is vital then might be worth looking at gen2 Kona - it's standard on those.

Edited by Sheepshanks on Wednesday 19th August 10:39

[POIDH]

Sheepshanks said:

I think the best case use for a heat pump is the other extreme - lots of short journeys in winter, where full power heating is needed to warm the car from cold.

I may be wrong, but I thought heat pumps do not warm up so quickly as direct/resistive heating and that lots of heat pumps have an extra element to heat up quickly. I may be wrong...

[RazerSauber]

When I looked into heatpumps on cars, I was looking at the i3 I think. The heatpump used slightly more energy until the temperature was achieved, then dropped massively. The resistive heater stayed the same all the time, only switching off and on.

Overall it's likely to make next to zero difference 99% of the time, with the resistive heater probably being slightly better on everything but long journeys.

POIDH said:

Any EV will lose range in winter but that's down to batteries, wet roads and wind. How much of the loss is heating?

My Kona's range drops dramatically when the heating is turned on. It can be a good 40 miles drop in estimated range, immediately noticed on the dash.

[NiceCupOfTea]

Thanks all. I think 99% of the time it won't be an issue as I will generally be doing stuff that won't push the range. However the nature of my work means that I will sometimes have to drive long distances (needing a charge at some stage), not be able to charge at my destination, and have to drive back late at night. If it's cold I don't want to be sitting wrapped up like an eskimo in the car, but the extra few miles of range / not having to stop for an extra charge will make a big difference in terms of getting home at a sensible time.

I have seen suggestions that winter motorway journeys without a heat pump drop the ~250 mile range to 165 or so which is not good news at all. I would really like to hold out for a heat pump if I am spending £20k or so, but the problem is not even so much having to hold out, as much as having no idea until I view a car in person as never seems to be advertised...

Not so much a fan of the Kona as I think it's less practical. I think Zombie mode was fixed a few years. ago with a software update.