Patent ID: 8261868

Claim:
A method for providing conditioned air to an occupant compartment of a vehicle, the method comprising: receiving electrical energy from a power generating device; monitoring a thermal storage level of a thermal storage device; when the thermal storage device has available storage capacity, storing at least a portion of the electrical energy in the thermal storage device by: causing the at least a portion of the electrical energy to be converted into thermal energy; and storing the thermal energy in the thermal storage device; when the thermal storage device has inadequate available storage, storing at least a portion of the electrical energy in an electrical storage device; and providing conditioned air to the occupant compartment of the vehicle based on at least one of thermal requirements of the occupant compartment, the thermal storage level of the thermal storage device, or an electrical storage level of the electrical storage device; wherein the conditioned air is provided to the occupant compartment of the vehicle without directing a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (“HVAC”) device to provide the conditioned air to the occupant compartment when the occupant compartment can be sufficiently heated or cooled by the thermal storage device.