Torque Shop: Is it safe to sleep in a battery EV?
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With electric vehicles (EVs), the air-conditioning can be switched on without the "engine" idling.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Is it safe and legal to sleep in a battery electric vehicle with the air-conditioning on? I know of people who, sometimes after heavy drinking, sleep off the alcohol in their car before driving home.
Most people are aware that sleeping in a car with the engine running is not safe because of the risk of carbon monoxide entering the passenger cabin. Also, keeping the engine idling while the car is parked is a violation of National Environment Agency regulations.
With electric vehicles (EVs), the air-conditioning can be switched on without the "engine" idling. While the air-conditioning is in operation, the car's on-board thermal management system monitors and maintains the temperature of the battery, which has its own cooling network.
About 3kW of power is required to keep the air-conditioning running inside an EV.
The climate control system is designed to allow some amount of filtered fresh air into the passenger compartment, to mix with the recirculating air to maintain a healthy oxygen level. Essentially, there is no real danger in napping for several hours in an EV with its air-conditioning switched on.
Bear in mind, however, that even if a car is safely parked, the person in the driver's seat can be charged for driving under the influence of alcohol if the police decide to run a breathalyser test and he or she fails it.
