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by 5e92cb50239222b 1280 days ago
Those can be warmed up with a g̶a̶s̶o̶l̶i̶n̶e blowtorch. Or you can fit your car with an alarm system that auto starts the engine throughout the night to keep it warm. That's what pretty much everyone is doing where I'm from (-25°C is a pretty typical winter temperature here, with drops down to -40-45°C for a couple weeks each winter).

After that you get tolerable gas mileage. I don't drive much, but from my friends' description it sounds like you get around 30-40% more gas usage compared to warmer months.
2 comments
anthomtb 1280 days ago
I thought electric block heaters were common in cold climates. Is the blow torch a last resort if you cannot park your car in range of an outlet?
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5e92cb50239222b 1280 days ago
Maybe in Norway or Canada or other 'rich' countries.

Most people have no place to park their cars, they just leave them wherever in the open (since most live in apartments and there are few garages available).

Those who have enough money to afford an alarm system and pay the increased gasoline bill (because it adds about an hour of idling your engine each day) rarely revert to such measures, but many do. I see them every morning when temperature drops below -30°C or so.

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foxyv 1280 days ago
That makes EVs look even worse.
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aaronax 1280 days ago
They seem much less common than they used to be. More people have garages, and modern vehicles will easily start down to - 15F maybe.

I would much rather have a battery jump pack since a weak battery is the most likely problem. Though those are weak in the cold too...

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_ph_ 1280 days ago
Well, if that garage has electricity, the electric car could charge and pre-heat there easily. Which would largely eliminate range-loss.
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metadat 1280 days ago
What is a gasoline torch? Would blowtorching a vehicle be detrimental and destructive to it?
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5e92cb50239222b 1280 days ago
Yeah, I probably should have looked in the dictionary before posting that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blowtorch

It's pretty dangerous, burns down quite a few cars each year, but people don't care or have no other options. I think during the last couple of years there were two fires near my house alone.

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metadat 1280 days ago
Do people run the open-flame torch it in the room where the vehicle is (to hear the air)? What about a plug-in solution such as a space heater?
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