Auto heated screens.

[Mito Man]

Yeah I know the Model 3 plugged in draws 2kw heating the interior!

[Jobbo]

The one Jobbo has turns on when the car is already on. It’s because diesels are more efficient and contain more thermal mass so a diesel takes much longer to warm its coolant than a petrol equivalent. The petrol model probably doesn’t require it as it will be negligible to warm up time.

It may be the case that petrol versions in other markets (Scandinavia perhaps?) have them. You're right though; diesels are so fucking efficient that they take longer to heat up. Which is very apparent if you don't have an aux heater.

[GG.]

IIRC correctly from trips to Sweden years ago, all their cars (at least in more country/village-y areas) plugged into the mains to power an auxiliary heater to stop them freezing solid. I don't know whether that is a third party aftermarket part fitted at delivery / the factory (similar to the way the Land Rovers use Webasto) rather than developed and fully integrated by the manufacturer.

[Mito Man]

The one Jobbo has turns on when the car is already on. It’s because diesels are more efficient and contain more thermal mass so a diesel takes much longer to warm its coolant than a petrol equivalent. The petrol model probably doesn’t require it as it will be negligible to warm up time.

It may be the case that petrol versions in other markets (Scandinavia perhaps?) have them. You're right though; diesels are so fucking efficient that they take longer to heat up. Which is very apparent if you don't have an aux heater.

Another thing with diesels is that they just produce barely any heat at idle/low rpm, my Defender has no supplementary heater and the coolant temp will drop at this time of year if driving gently at 30 mph in high gears, if you're on a long country road following a line of cars all doing 30 eventually the vents blow cold air until you start driving round in 3rd gear to raise the RPM Also see the old black cab drivers stuffing cardboard in their grills come winter.
The Mito on the other hand despite having a minuscule petrol engine doesn't suffer from this.

In Scandinavia block heaters were the most popular method, which usually actually warmed up the coolant, but most new cars don't have them. I think with the advent of active grills and pretty much sealed engine bays the cars just shut their grills and that's good enough!

[Sundayjumper]

The Dooper had a little electric element in the heater and would be producing warm air by the first set of traffic lights. The Pooper doesn't and takes far longer to get warm. Apart from cost I don't see any reason why they don't / won't fit them to the petrol models.

I wonder if it's retrofittable somehow.

[Delphi]

Being able to tell the Volvo I'm leaving to do the school run in 15 minutes and have it start itself so that everything is warm and toasty when I leave is one of my favourite features. Heated steering wheels FTW too!

[KevH18]

I think being able to pre-heat the Kona using my phone is the greatest single feature it has. You can pre-heat to a set temperature on it's own or also add screen defrost, heated rear screen and mirrors and turn the heating steering wheel on.

It's obviously not exclusive to EVs or PHEVs but it must be so much easier to add to a car with a large battery.

[Explosive Newt]

Yeah I know the Model 3 plugged in draws 2kw heating the interior!

I realised I was giving it _way_ too long to heat up (like five to ten minutes) when today I discovered it goes from -3 degrees to 21 in no time at all. What a waste of juice!

[Mito Man]

Yeah I know the Model 3 plugged in draws 2kw heating the interior!

I realised I was giving it _way_ too long to heat up (like five to ten minutes) when today I discovered it goes from -3 degrees to 21 in no time at all. What a waste of juice!

As you have a new Model 3 you’ll have a heat pump so you’re not wasting much. It also preconditions the battery which takes about 30 minutes.

[Explosive Newt]

Yeah I know the Model 3 plugged in draws 2kw heating the interior!

I realised I was giving it _way_ too long to heat up (like five to ten minutes) when today I discovered it goes from -3 degrees to 21 in no time at all. What a waste of juice!

As you have a new Model 3 you’ll have a heat pump so you’re not wasting much. It also preconditions the battery which takes about 30 minutes.

I haven’t preconditioned thus far - wasn’t sure how much energy that took vs short journeys to work.

[mik]

Mrs mik’s E-tron requests the time you want the car to be ready - not when you want anything to start - it obviously knows how long various shizzle take to bizzle.

[McSwede]

Mrs mik’s E-tron requests the time you want the car to be ready - not when you want anything to start - it obviously knows how long various shizzle take to bizzle.

My 330e is like that. It has the car ready for the requested time. Pre-heating is a wonderful thing!!

[jamcg]

I know we’ve either got or have had a couple of Zoe drivers on here- do they not have the fancy app connected preheat that seems common on electric cars? Saw one driving through Middlesbrough the other day with a letterbox scraped out the ice in the windscreen and that was it side windows still opaque and everything