I assume you still need a compressor. What drives the compressor on a pure electric car or a hybrid when the gas engine turns off?
I imagine the same thing that runs the home air conditioner. Electricity. It does eat up a lot of battery however.
I assume it depends on the car. In the Honda Insight the AC turns off when the (IC) engine shuts off. However, it should be noted that the Insight is never being driven on the battery alone, the IC engine kicks on as soon as you take your foot off the brake (unlike the Prius from what I understand).
In short, the Insight’s AC is being driven by the engine just like in a regular car, to the best of my knowledge.
The fisrt generation Prius had its compressor driven by the gas engine (and therfore couldn’t run if the engine was shut off). Newer models have a electric compressor and can run for a while with the engine off (eventualy it will kick in to keep the battery level OK)
Brian