This SBIR Phase I project addresses a new type of system to provide comfort heating and cooling for the occupant compartment of `Next Generation Vehicles`. Conventional systems are heavy and require use of electric power to operate. This adds additional battery weight and reduces the range attainable with a given electric vehicle design. A complex compound based system would store heating and cooling potential during the electric vehicle charging process, and release this energy as required during vehicle operation without the use of electric power. It would also result in lower vehicle weight, further increasing the vehicles rangeability. Phase I objectives will be to select the best complex compound media for this type of system, perform rate testing and heat exchanger optimization and establish the viability and the proposed concept.
