Electric Van Heat Pump/AC (and more!)

[AirConditioner]

I'm not sure why you are arguing. What you are talking about is in no way helpful or relevant to air conditioning a "van" or a Jeep. There is nowhere to store ice, and even if there was you would have to refill it. An air conditioning system provides cold air on demand at any time, and is unlimited for as long as you have power or gas.

Weight vs weight doesn't mean anything. As I said, I'm already installing a large battery for other purposes, and any sort of recreational vehicle needs to have more than just a starting battery also. If the power is there (literally 120v outlets) then an A/C compressor is a wonderful thing. But if you are concerned about weight, the lithium battery will save me about 30lbs over the original lead acid. I'm not here to discus battery technology.

It's hard to find a place to mount an electric A/C system in a vehicle, but certainly a hell of a lot easier than storing ice. I honestly can't comprehend what you are arguing about. Nobody uses ice to cool a car. That is not even remotely practical.

If you're talking about heating/cooling a house, then yes, definitely water and ice have way better storage capacities than batteries for less money. This is totally different than what you need in a vehicle.

[NiHaoMike]

Originally Posted by AirConditioner

I'm not sure why you are arguing. What you are talking about is in no way helpful or relevant to air conditioning a "van" or a Jeep. There is nowhere to store ice, and even if there was you would have to refill it. An air conditioning system provides cold air on demand at any time, and is unlimited for as long as you have power or gas.

The thermal storage can be "recharged" with an onboard heat pump. Most likely one based on a 5000BTU/hr window A/C since it's hard to go smaller with decent efficiency and still keep the cost of parts low, while going bigger increases weight and size. (And are you planning to have more than 500W or so of solar panels to be able to power a larger A/C constantly? Might be reasonable for a RV but not a van.)

4kWh of batteries would be overkill unless it's also being used for traction power. Could probably go that route fairly easily by replacing the alternator with a BLDC motor/generator.

[AirConditioner]

Originally Posted by NiHaoMike

The thermal storage can be "recharged" with an onboard heat pump.

Thermal storage doesn't work on wheels. I am seriously baffled by your posts...

Where would you suggest one mount this thermal storage tank in a Van or Jeep? It is not even remotely practical, and moving all that mass just uses more energy.

Originally Posted by NiHaoMike

(And are you planning to have more than 500W or so of solar panels to be able to power a larger A/C constantly? Might be reasonable for a RV but not a van.)

I'm not planning on any solar panels, though the OP said he was going to have 1.2KW of panels, which is more than enough to run a ton of A/C and charge batteries at the same time.

I am planning on putting a 4KWH battery under the back seat, for numerous reasons portable power is extremely convenient. The OP says he has a 24.8 KWH battery. That can run a LOT of air conditioning, or other useful things like power inverters, lights, heating, cooking, fans, etc. With only 4KWH I can run a ton of A/C for 4 hours...or smaller A/C for even longer. The lithium battery will also be used to run the block heater in the winter without an extension cord, and removing the lead starting battery gives me more room under the hood.

I'm not trying to be rude but I honestly can't understand why your posts have anything to do with the topic. I don't think you understand the question. Onboard battery power is wonderful to have in any vehicle for numerous reasons. Thermal storage to any useful degree simply isn't an option on wheels. Thermal storage is a wonderful thing in stationary applications, but it is always very large and very heavy.

[NiHaoMike]

Originally Posted by AirConditioner

Where would you suggest one mount this thermal storage tank in a Van or Jeep? It is not even remotely practical, and moving all that mass just uses more energy.

It takes energy to move batteries as well, although I suppose that can be largely offset with regenerative braking. It's down to the overall cost vs benefit of a large battery pack vs a smaller battery pack plus thermal storage.

The OP says he has a 24.8 KWH battery. That can run a LOT of air conditioning, or other useful things like power inverters, lights, heating, cooking, fans, etc.

He's building an EV or plug in hybrid, a different use case. Of course there needs to be a sizable battery for that application.