Do Hybrids provide enough winter heat?
Since I do not own a Hybrid, but do own and drive an efficient VW TDI ... I have a question in regard to use of the 'heater.' One of the problems for the first 15 minutes in driving a TDI during cold weather is that they are slow to heat up. It is in part due to not wasting a significant amount of energy in the form of heat.
I imagine that Hybrids suffer the same problem. Small engines that are not heavily worked when driving around town would seem to me to have a similar problem?
The reason I ask is that there is a company in Detroit working on mechanical friction heating systems for small Europeon diesel that provide a ton more near instant heat than the current technique of adding a bunch of electrical glow plugs in the coolant. Would the market for small belt driven oiled friction heaters be marketable to the hybrid world?
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