Method of heating up the intake air of an internal combustion engine and internal combustion engine suitable to coduct such a method

The method involves linking an intake conduit (3) to each intake port, where the intake conduit of two cylinders (2) merges to an entire intake conduit (6). A heating device (7) is activated for heating of combustion air (9a) when the fuel supply to an internal combustion engine (1) is deactivated for a predefinable time period. The heating device is electrically operated for heating the combustion air. The heating device is operated using the energy recovered during a thrust operation of the internal combustion engine. An independent claim is included for an internal combustion engine.