So I have to take a road trip in an EV, and it’s winter. So I’m going to have to use the AC. I know in my old ICE car I could have the AC off and the fan would blow hot air just from the engine. With my EV it seems to be the same, even with the AC button off the vents are blowing hot air. Is that hot air just heat vented from the battery? Or is it still using battery power for the compressor to heat the air.
Amazing that you asked a technical question but yet you didn’t tell us the name and the model of your EV. I suspect something is wrong here. Perhaps even a BS question…
Why assume it’s a “BS” question?
Unless you’re an EV nerd like most of us here, it’s pretty natural to assume all EVs would have a similar system, just as (virtually) all gas cars have a similar heating system; they all have a heater core that engine coolant gets diverted to, and a fan to blow the heated air into in the cabin. The heater in a 2023 Toyota Corolla isn’t really that different than one in a 1957 Chevy.
The fact that EVs use a few different systems (or a combination of them) really shows how early in the transition we are- manufacturers haven’t really settled on one “best practice” yet.