The U.S. carmaker has come up with a highly unorthodox idea of making you feel comfortable in your electric car while also extending its range.
The Transit Smart Energy Concept MPV depicted here features a special ambient lighting system that changes the perception of in-car temperature, rather than changing the temperature itself. Should you feel cold, the light will switch to red, which should in turn create an illusion of warmth. Whenever you feel like flicking on the air conditioner, the light will change to blue, thus lowering the perceived temperature.
According to a study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, climate control systems are by far the largest factor contributing to the increased power consumption of EVs. They can halve the efficient driving range of any car if used abundantly.
After testing the Transit Smart Energy Concept, Ford came up with the conclusion that color-coded ambient lighting can conserve about 2.5% of the power used by the heating unit and about 3.3% of the power used by the air conditioner.