The below was reposted on the Air Cooled list, having been previously 
posted on an electric vehicle list.  I suspect that the advent of the 
mass-produced electric car will be a boon for those of us wishing for heat 
in our air-cooled VW's.  After all, an electric car has the same 
lack-of-hot-water heating problem an A/C VW has, and electric heat (for 
now) is too inefficient even for an electric car, which leaves fuel-fired 
heaters, etc.  With the US Government mandating electric car production, 
and the big corperations in Japan and the US scrambling to make the cars 
comfortable (including HEAT) and affordable, inexpensive non-hot-water car 
heaters may someday be a reality again.

-Ron Salmon

>Wed., Dec. 4 -- CALSTART News Notes [...]
>Matsushita Develops Fuel-Fired EV Heater
>12/4/96, Japan - To extend the range of electric vehicles (EVs)
>operating in cold weather, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.  has
>developed a heater that - without using flames - converts gasoline to
>heat, reports Nihon Keizai Shimbun. The unit achieves a record 90
>percent efficiency by mixing warmed air with aerated gasoline, then
>passing it through a catalyzer made of ceramic and two types of
>stainless metals coated with palladium and platinum. Because the
>process is flameless, it does not emit nitric oxide or carbon monoxide
>emissions. By using such a heater, battery energy is preserved, which
>can extend an EV's range. The compact units measure 5.4 inches in
>diameter and are eight inches long.  [...] END