
Elon Musk: Tesla Model Y heat pump is some of the best engineering I’ve seen in a while
Elon Musk praised Tesla’s team for the Model Y’s heat pump — a feature that could make the electric SUV...
The Model Y is Tesla's first product that uses a heat pump, rather than a resistance heater, to heat the cabin and battery. This is important because heat pumps are more efficient, and in cold weather the difference between the two heating systems could be a significant difference in actual range -- I wouldn't be surprised if the heat pump allowed you to have 5% to 10% more range on a cold day.
I haven't seen the answer anywhere -- will the Cybertruck follow the Model Y's lead and use a heat pump, or will it feature a resistance heater like all other Teslas?
The first wave of compliance EVs all used resistance heaters, as far as I know. Now, I'm not sure why EVs have featured resistance heating instead of heat pumps. I'd love to learn more about why it has taken Tesla so long to fit a more-efficient heat pump.
A Youtuber discusses more about the Model Y's heat pump here. At 2:15 there is a helpful discussion explaining more about how these different technologies work: