Of course they should stick to the agreed price, but then they have almost nothing for their work.

The cost of gas (1234yf) is about 10g/£ so normally 600g is £60 and then £55 for the job
Your car with heat pump needs 1175g of gas so approx £120 gas and £60 for the job

 

Thank you for the reply @Bosson

Your explanation is far clearer than the dealers and it makes sense. The dealer told me my car requires extra gas, but didn't explain why. They then told me that they quoted me for just labour, which again is incorrect. I showed them the invoice they gave me during the service which very clearly states "Labour time to regas and add tracer dye". I ended up paying the money, but they really need to be clear in the first place.

I never really thought about the heat pump. What sort of impact would low or no gas have if I just left the air con empty? Come to think of it, I used a DC charger a few weeks ago for pretty much the first time since the day I bought the car about a year ago. The charging speed wouldn't go any higher than 27kW. I wonder was that a case of insufficient cooling?

 

R280 refrigerant systems are more expensive, even though the refrigerant itself is less expensive than what is currently offered in vehicles.
The reason for this is that R280 refrigerant is extremely flammable and requires a refrigerant-to-coolant heat exchanger to be located outside of the vehicle cabin.
The cooling and heating modes of this heat pump system are accomplished using coolant.
This refrigerant can raise the coolant temperature to 170°F, even in the coldest conditions, when operating as a heat pump system.

This technology is yet to be approved by automotive industry to be used in vehicles and commercial vehicles like busses and other industrial machines.
If it gets approved one day this will end all dissatisfactions driving EV in frigid weather and heat will be as ICE vehicle using engine coolant loop.

 

Hmm, not sure I like the sound of "extremely inflammable" fluids around. Isn't this the cause of many ICE fires, when the petrol feed-pipe accidentally cracks/come loose & drops fuel onto a verhy hot item nearby, or a spark ignites it? Wha happens in a car crash when there's catastrophic damage to the front end, pipes broken & sparks from 12V battery etc all over the place? Sorry, not for me, thanks. I want something inert, like glycol.

If it's a hydrocarbon like, say, hexane or similar, isn't it a bit of a greenhouse gas if it escapes to the atmosphere? The patented stuff in our Ioniqs is reckoned to be really "green" in this respect, unlike previous stuff.