In this paper, a heat pump air conditioning system (HPACS) with refrigerant R134a based on the functional requirements of battery electric vehicle is designed and tested. Experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of different ambient temperature, air flow rate of internal condenser, expansion valve (EXV) opening and compressor speed. The results demonstrate that air flow rate of internal condenser, EXV opening and compressor speed have important impact on heating capacity, compressor power consumption and coefficient of performance (COP) under several ambient temperatures. To verify the HPACS can also provide the heating capacity required by the battery electric vehicle cabin in cold climate, the system was also tested under a −5 °C ambient temperature, it was found that the heating capacity is 3.6 kW and the COP is 3.2, demonstrating that the system has high energy efficiency. In addition, heating process analysis of the HPACS under lower temperature is studied by exergy principle. The results indicate that compressor is the highest exergy destruction in all components, accounting for 55%. The percentage of exergy destruction in other components is about 28%, 12% and 5% for the expansive valve, condenser, and evaporator. Furthermore, air flow rate of internal condenser, ambient temperature and expansion valve opening have important impact on exergy destruction and exergy efficiency of the HPACS.