AZJet:

As long as the batteries are fully charged the ICE does not need to be on to run the AC. I sat in the car waiting for my wife for something like 30 minutes or more with the AC on full blast before the ICE finally kicked in. I clicked over to the battery monitor and it was low. BTW it did not take very much driving before they were fully charged again either (even with the AC running).

Kace