Webasto Range Plus: Heating system ensures warmth in e-transporters

Many drivers of electric vehicles feel the cold outside even inside the vehicle. They face a dilemma: If they turn on the heating at low temperatures, the range of their battery can decrease by up to 35 percent. If they turn off the heating or regulate it to a low level, it stays cold in the car - a difficult decision. After all, no one wants to sit in an electric vehicle with restless thoughts and cold hands or constantly look at the battery symbol on the dashboard and wonder: When will it get tight, will I still get enough battery power?

Short trips to work or school may work without heating, but professional drivers need comfortable warmth in the vehicle as they often spend all day or even the night in the vehicle. Large window surfaces and frequent door openings also take away heat from the interior.

Professional drivers have a right to warmth in the vehicle

Those who travel professionally in an electric vehicle must always weigh their own comfort against the range of the battery. That's not always easy.

For example, in the case of package delivery, drivers spend the whole day in the e-transporter. Too cold a vehicle reduces well-being, work morale and safety. In several countries, there are regulations and recommendations for the interior temperature of vehicles, especially for transporting passengers. For example, the German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV) stipulates that it must be possible to drive in the vehicle without thick clothing during winter, as this can impair driving and reduce the effectiveness of the seat belt. The American Public Health Association recommends that the interior temperature in buses should not fall below 18 °C to ensure passengers' well-being.

So: turn on the heating? In this case, the range of the battery could decrease so much that not all packages can be delivered, and customers are dissatisfied.

The same applies to taxi drivers who cannot afford to transport passengers in an e-fridge. The dilemma here is that the range is shortened, and the charging times are lengthened by the switched-on heater. This in turn reduces the number of passengers conveyed and the turnover.

Webasto Range Plus retrofitting brings warmth into the vehicle, relieving the battery

Various manufacturers of electric vehicles already offer a stationary heater that preheats the interior of the e-vehicle before starting. The problem with electrically operated stationary heaters for e-cars is, however, that they draw energy from the drive battery, which can further reduce the range of the vehicle if there is no charging facility available. This is where Webasto comes in with the Webasto Range Plus.

The Air Top 2000 STC air heating system, powered by diesel or hydrated vegetable oils (HVO) with a separate tank, significantly relieves the existing electric heater. This keeps the heat in the vehicle, and the drive battery retains its full capacity for the maximum range of the e-vehicle. Another advantage of the system is that a parked vehicle can also be preheated without a charging connection. During the trip, the air heater maintains the temperature of the interior.

At the beginning, Webasto focused on the retrofitting of the eVito from Mercedes-Benz. Uwe Trettin, Head of Application Development at Webasto, explains the reasons: “We decided to start with a retrofitting kit for a Mercedes-Benz eVito/EQV because it is used in Germany for the applications for which our heating solution is intended,” explains Trettin. In the meantime, Webasto also offers retrofitting kits for other vehicles: for Vivaro-e Cargo and the Zafira-e Life from Opel, for the two models e-Expert and e-Traveller from Peugeot, for the E-Jumpy Electric and E-Spacetourer Electric from Citroen, Proace Electric and Proace Verso Electric from Toyota and for the E-Scudo E-Ulysse from Fiat. Further models are in preparation.

One of the first customers for the retrofitting are the German Filderstadtwerke, who are converting their workshop vehicle fleet to e-drive. “We decided to install this additional heating system to ensure the operational readiness of our fitters, even on the weekend. In standby mode, the colleagues must be able to park the vehicle on the roadside in front of the apartment to drive quickly and reliably, even in frost and snow, for example to a pipe burst. We are happy to have Webasto by our side, which opens this possibility for us,” says Markus Listl, Head of Technology at the Filderstadtwerke.

Retrofitting for EVs and e-vans

The Webasto retrofit system can be used for both electric cars and e-vans. Depending on the vehicle, Webasto Range Plus can be installed in different places. In the example of the eVito, the system is mounted between the front and rear axles. It can be operated in fresh air or recirculation mode and uses the existing starter battery for power supply. The tank cap is installed through a side panel opening to avoid space issues. The control is either via the ThermoConnect App or the MultiControl control unit.

The installation of the Webasto Range Plus system typically takes around ten hours and costs approximately 3,200 euros, including all necessary parts. With an eight-liter fuel tank, the system can provide up to 40 hours of heating at full load, depending on the weather conditions and comfort settings. This ensures that drivers and passengers can stay warm and comfortable even in cold temperatures, without worrying about a comfort dilemma caused by the cold outside.