Assessment of efficiency of windscreen demisting systems in electrical vehicles by using IR thermography

• IR thermography has proven to be very useful in the vehicle thermal management.
• Performance of windscreen demisting systems of EVs is higher than that of ICEV.
• Performance of windscreen demisting systems of EV–HP is higher than that of EV–ER.
• Efficiency of windscreen demisting systems of EV–HP is higher than that of EV–ER.

The present work aims to assess the efficiency of windscreen demisting systems in electrical vehicles by using infrared (IR) thermography and image analysis techniques. The study was performed on three different vehicles: (i) an internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV); (ii) a full electric vehicle (EV) that uses an electric resistance (ER) for heating the vehicle cabin; and (iii) a full EV that incorporates a heat pump (HP). As demonstrated by the results, the performance of windscreen demisting systems of EVs is higher than that of ICEV. In turn, the performance and the efficiency of windscreen demisting systems of EV–HP are higher than that of EV–ER.