1) The nominal amount of electricity used by a heater blower motor is not going to measurably affect the range of your trip (this is most likely the same for the Tesla)
2) The heat from the engine block is waste heat from the relatively inefficient combustion process. This heat has to be actively dissipated in most driving conditions (typically even in winter). It is essentially free to pipe this heat into the cabin. Now contrast this with the Tesla's 400 electrical resistance heater, which has to directly compromise range to generate cabin heat.
I'm mildly curious why they use direct electrical resistance.
It's not like you can't make heat pumps that operate down past 0F.
My mitsubishi mini-split:
1. Can produce it's full BTU load all the way down to 5F, and 75% BTU load down to -13F.
2. Doesn't bother to blow air until it's warm
:)
They aren't even that much larger than a resistance based coil system (though I could imagine the model S may not be able to fit them)
1) The nominal amount of electricity used by a heater blower motor is not going to measurably affect the range of your trip (this is most likely the same for the Tesla)
2) The heat from the engine block is waste heat from the relatively inefficient combustion process. This heat has to be actively dissipated in most driving conditions (typically even in winter). It is essentially free to pipe this heat into the cabin. Now contrast this with the Tesla's 400 electrical resistance heater, which has to directly compromise range to generate cabin heat.