Hmm, that’s a strange comment you left. I’m not the person you responded to but:
When I get off work it’s just before dawn (coldest part of the day) and it’s frequently 10 Fahrenheit or lower in the winter (below freezing). I wear gloves in my car in the winter because cars don’t warm up enough for the heat to come on right away. I don’t want to walk through the cold into a cold car and grab a literal freezing steering wheel and hold on to it for 10 mins until the heat kicks on. My drive is about 35 min in good conditions.
I’m assuming you live in a warm place or don’t drive a car, good for you. Wish I had public transportation.
it’s frequently 10 Fahrenheit or lower in the winter
Fair enough, we don’t hit such temperatures regularly in Warsaw (Poland).
a literal freezing steering wheel
Is it that bad? Wow. Didn’t know that. I though the cage would provide at least some thermal insulation.
hold on to it for 10 mins until the heat kicks on
If my colleagues lived in a climate as cold as yours, they’d have mounted parking heaters (e.g. Webasto) by now. Electrics struggle in cold, but they can preheat themselves before the ride, using just the electricity.
I’m assuming you live in a warm place
Warsaw is at the same latitude as Edmonton in Canada, so shouldn’t be really that warmer.
or don’t drive a car
Winter 2022/23 was when we still were in our previous office. It was ½ hour long commute with my Xiaomi M365 electric scooter. This winter 2023/24 we moved to an office further away, so I was forced to change my daily vehicle to a motorcycle, maxiscooter SYM MaxSym 600i ABS. At least you have the goddamn cage.
Wish I had public transportation.
I miss having good alternative commute via metro and tram to our old office. Took almost the same time as e-scooter. But our new office? Public transit takes 2x as long as a motorcycle commute, according to Google Maps Timeline, so might as well not exist. So now we’re in similar situation. Wish you luck…
Warsaw is at the same latitude as Edmonton in Canada, so shouldn’t be really that warmer.
Reading a climate chart for Warsaw, it seems like January lows average out to -5C and your coldest days dip under -20C? Feel free to correct that considering you would know better than I.
In Edmonton, January lows average to -15C, and winter temperatures can dip down to -35C (or rarely even worse) along with nasty winds. It’s a surprisingly harsh climate.
I live around Ottawa, Canada and our winter experience is basically Edmonton with less wind and more humidity. You scrape the ice off your car and drive with gloves on because otherwise it would take 15 minutes to heat it up enough to be comfortable. Seat warmers are cherished here.
They probably drive a car where they can tell the car to warm or cool the cabin remotely. My problem is opposite yours, even with the windscreen covered the car will heat to 50°C (112°F) and if sunlight was on anything, that thing will be too hot to touch.
So I tell my car to keep the air con on while I’m in the shops, tell it to start cooling when I’m returning to it after I’ve been away longer than I like to run AC
In your scenario, I would ask the car to be warm an hour before I needed it
