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Air-conditioning (AC) is an important sub-system in electric vehicles (EVs). AC is responsible for the highest energy consumption among all the auxiliary systems. As the energy is delivered by the batteries, the power consumption for air-conditioning can imply a significant reduction of the vehicle autonomy. Given the actual state of the art and the temperature and power requirements, electrically driven compressors are the most feasible solution. However, vapour-compression systems are reaching their maximum efficiency. Using innovative technologies can improve the performance of standard systems and hereby increase the vehicle autonomy. This paper presents the first steps in the design of a magnetocaloric air-conditioner for an electric minibus. The system will include two reversible magnetocaloric heat pumps, one in the front part of a minibus and one on the rear. The heat rejection system of the power electronics will be coupled to the air-conditioning system.

In this paper a model for Automotive Air Conditioning evaporators is presented, including a comparison between calculated and measured results for two different types of evaporator: tube and fins and plate and fins. The development of the model has been carried out by the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia in co-operation with the Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya and two companies: FASA-RENAULT and FRAPE-BEHR, under a research project supported by the Spanish Agency for R&D: CICYT. The input data for the model are the HEX geometry and the inlet conditions and mass flow rate of both flows. Then the model calculates the outlet conditions and all the performance parameters. The developed model is able to take into account the following aspects of the HE: Tube or plate evaporators as well as any flow configuration: parallel, counter-flow, cross-flow and multi-pass.

The heating and cooling systems are an important issue in the development of fully electric vehicles (FEVs). On the contrary to vehicles with thermal engines, in FEVs there is almost no waste heat available for the heating of the cabin or for the window de-icing and defogging. The cooling of the cabin also demands a large amount of energy. Due to the high power consumption, the heating and cooling of FEVs is a compromise between thermal comfort and vehicle range. The aim of this work is to present the European project ICE (2010-2014) [1] which focuses on the development of an efficient air-conditioning and heating system based on a magneto-caloric heat pump and on a new system architecture to fulfill the thermal comfort requirements of an electric minibus. The system will be installed and demonstrated in a Daily Electric Mini-bus from IVECO-ALTRA.