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You must mean in very cold conditions, where gas vehicles also often have engine block heaters plugged in so you can start them?
by dv_dt 3y ago
You must mean in very cold conditions, where gas vehicles also often have engine block heaters plugged in so you can start them?
- idiotsecant 3y agoThose are a 'nice to have' but not a 'have to have' until it gets below -15 to -20f, which is unusual, at least in continental US.
- TylerE 3y agoThey're near, if not actually, universal in places like Canada and Scandinavia. Not exactly tiny markets.
- Xylakant 3y agoCanada has roughly 40 million inhabitants, Scandinavia (if you include Finland) less than 30 million. Even combined, that is pretty much exactly the population of France alone, or about 15 million less than Germany alone - and neither of those is exactly a huge country. Canada and Scandinavia, on the global scale, are small markets.
- ben_w 3y agoCanada is 0.481% of the world population. https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=canada+population+%2F+world+population https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=canada+population+%2F+w...
- namaria 3y agoAnd how much of the world's purchasing power?
- ben_w 3y agohttps://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=Canada+GDP+%28PPP%29+%2F+world+GDP+%28PPP%29 https://www.wolframalpha.com/input?i=Canada+GDP+%28PPP%29+%2... 1.385%
- TylerE 3y agoNow add Norway, Sweden, and Finland. The parts of Russia where the rich people live, too.
- ben_w 3y ago> Now add Norway, Sweden, and Finland. How about you do it? I'm getting bored of recreating the character of Sigourney Weaver > Gwen DeMarco > Lieutenant Tawny Madison in Galaxy Quest. Hint: less than Canada even when combined, both population and GDP. > The parts of Russia where the rich people live Central London? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evgeny_Lebedev https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evgeny_Lebedev
- idiotsecant 3y ago>> The parts of Russia where the rich people live >Central London? Just voting for this wasn't enough.
- Too 3y agoSame small fraction of the world where thermoregulating the battery during charging is a concern for EVs.
- thebruce87m 3y agoThere was a lovely commenter claiming that they are not needed even at -40 here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39074333 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39074333
- swiftcoder 3y agoCertainly more of a problem for diesel cars (diesel starts to gel not much below freezing). However, if there's any level of condensation in your gasoline tank you do have to worry about the fuel lines developing ice crystals... I wouldn't like to bet my life on starting an off-the-shelf car without any preheaters in -40 degrees
- mlrtime 3y agoI went down a small youtube rabbit hole one night. There are some youtube channels showing guys getting up at the crack of dawn and starting their cold engine diesel engines without block heaters. It seems if you are sufficiently prepared they are not needed.
- idiotsecant 3y agoIt's true that just about any modern vehicle with a quality battery will start in -40°F , but oil distribution will be suboptimal and you'll put strain in cold, brittle places it shouldn't be. I guess 'need' is a strong word, but every time you start a vehicle in that kind of cold you do a tiny bit of damage to it. Keeping it a little warm during startup is really important for long term health.
- zitsarethecure 3y agoA lot of cars also have remote starters that people use to precondition (warm up or cool down) their cars.
- Retric 3y agoOr just as is often the case a garage.