The design and experimental measurements of the novel low-pressure thermal energy storage for the heating of electric vehicles

This paper deals with the impact of heating on the driving range of battery electric vehicles (BEVs), as the energy from a car battery is used on both driving and heating of the car. The possible solution is the novel heating device with its own energy source—a low-pressure thermal energy storage. The use of an inner heat exchanger in this thermal energy storage makes the design of the whole heating device very simple and with the division of a high-pressure from a low-pressure part increases its safety. By adding some salts into water, it is possible to decrease the value of inner pressure (vapour pressure) in the thermal storage and to increase its storage capacity along with the conservation of good thermodynamic properties of the storage medium. In the conclusion, the measurement results of the heating device tested under real conditions are presented.