Heated seat belts are good for an EV

LAS VEGAS: The ZF seat belt unveiled at CES here is not your ordinary seat belt. It's heated.

What sounds like a wasteful luxury feature is actually an energy-saving measure, said the German manufacturer, which wants to put it into series production in one or two years.

That's because heating the entire interior of a car - air, seats, steering wheel - burns through a large amount of energy, and is a notorious drain on electric car battery.

Instead, ZF wants to turn the seat belt into a kind of water bottle for wearers, allowing them to leave the air conditioner off on colder days.

Instead of heating up the entire car, you just need enough power to warm up a few wires that are closest to each passenger in the seat belt.