To think cars should have all heated windows

[Snoopsteandcooper]

I was out scraping my car at the crack of dawn. I've got a heated front windscreen, but what's the point when I've still got to scrape the side windows. I think someone should make a car that all the windows are heated!

I eventually did the truck with the ziploc bag and warm water and that was quicker, but I'd much rather press a couple of buttons while I sit in the car!

The Mini Coopers that won the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally had electrically heated windscreens.

“SerendipityJane · Today 11:05

You really should let the engine do the work and get warm to defrost the screen (EV owners can just watch their battery flatten). That way when you set off you stay clear and safe.”

That’s a very expensive way to defrost a car before setting off - as well as the risk of theft if you leave the car running unattended.

Electrically heated windows, with an internal filament, are a great idea - sadly our car (an EV) doesn’t have any/one.

But it does have a function on the heater. It can be programmed to come on or turned on from the key fob. True it does use some battery capacity but if the car is plugged in it uses an external source.

I say exactly the same thing about the side windows as you OP. Front and back I get to press the little button but side I have the scrape. It might not take long but then my stupid Raynaud's fingers take forever to come back. Especially if it was wet and then froze and the side windows are all covered in hard ice not just frost and it takes forever to chip it off.

I've used flexible connectors in product design and they are a pain. The thermal expansion present in cars because of the range of temperatures they are subjected to would make them even more prone to failure. The only plus side is that the number of flex cycles you would need to rate them to in a car window would probably be relatively low.

I do normally do this. But it was -10c here this morning. Would have created an ice rink!

I normally leave the engine running, either with or without me in it.

You don't really want to be driving off in a car with a really cold engine anyway. It's better for the oil to warm up while the engine is at low revs and just ticking over to reduce wear and tear.

@Mothership4two

it's why I'll only buy fords!!!

I would love the side windows like the windscreen, but it's not, so I just put the windows up a million times 😂

then I go & wind them down fir the first couple of intersections, after that they're defrosted completely.

if it's thick ice/snow I will scrape them otherwise it all ends up on the seats!!

@Whatevershallidowithmylife

it's not a necessity

ignoring the impact on the environment is disgusting

not to mention it's fucking annoying.

Plenty of features are technically feasible but aren't included on most cars for cost reasons. I rented a Mercedes van 20+ years ago that had a diesel heater (a heater fuelled by burning a small amount of fuel, separate from the engine and usable without starting the ignition) which could be activated using a button on the remote control. Never seen it on another vehicle since, but it was a great thing to have in the winter and not particularly high tech or difficult to implement.

DH has a VW with a heated screen but it's nowhere near as good as the Ford system.

Some cars have a connected app system nowadays where you can set the heaters/blowers going before you get in the car, which is a cheaper way of doing it than installing all heated ones. I suspect the issue with the side windows is the moving parts, plus it would be very expensive to replace them if they're broken.

That said, I've got my defrosting down to a fine art now and can be on the road in under 3 minutes, unless it's that bastard ice that started melting then froze again.

• start the car and get front and rear demisters going (my front one isn't a proper heated screen - just the traditional blower method!)
• Start scraping the side windows, starting with the rear ones (the rear tinted windows are never as difficult to clear as the front clear windows), then do the front side windows
• By this time my front blower has softened the ice on the windscreen so this comes off easily
• Don't bother with the rear windscreen as by this point the heater has melted it and I can just use the wiper.

I went out one day just after my neighbour had started clearing theirs and I was off with a totally defrosted car before they'd even finished half of theirs!

I scraped mine this morning with a metal bench scraper and the ice came off incredibly easily! I used it because it was all I had to hand (new to me car, forgot to pick up a replacement to the one I lost in a car fire!) but I'm honestly thinking about buying a new one for the kitchen and keeping that one in the car!

Windscreen wipers are of little use when the moisture refreezes on the inside of a cold windscreen.

what kind of car does not have a heated windscreen??

Erm loads......

Really annoyingly, my Mazda has a heated back window but not the front!

How many people will have done this for a journey that could have been made on foot, or to travel to an office when they could reasonably have worked from home today?

We broke the heated window on a hire car. Was excruciatingly expensive. I suspect can only really work in static windows not ones that go up and down!
not worth it for convenience a handful of times a year, IMO. Warm water every time.

Ford have filed a patent for heated side windows so it might be coming soon! Of course they had the original (now lapsed) patent on the front windshield, which I think is the same system used by Land Rover. My mum’s VW has one but it’s not as good as the one in my LR.

Luke warm ish water poured over the windscreen does a good job

I'm an ev owner and I just programme the car to warm up and to ready to go by the time I leave on a morning. I don't drain the battery because it is plugged in to the charger and draws from the house. Plus the car doesn't need to be unlocked and it isn't choking out the street with fumes while it does it 🤷

You don't really want to be driving off in a car with a really cold engine anyway. It's better for the oil to warm up while the engine is at low revs and just ticking over to reduce wear and tear.

Absolutely incorrect. The best thing from an engine wear perspective is to start it and drive away keeping the revs reasonably low until the oil’s up to temp. You want the engine to reach operating temp as quickly as possible but without placing excessive load on it.

"Running in. Please pass"

Night heater common on trucks with sleeper cabs so the drivers can stay warm overnight, but definitely less common in 'normal punter licence' vehicles like vans.

I have a PHEV and I just pre-heat it via the app, whilst it's plugged in.

I think where you park makes a difference as well. Mine rarely has so much as a frosty roof given 10min pre-heat when it's in the covered bit of my driveway inbetween the two houses, but 10 mins pre-heat if I've left it out on the street (not plugged in) on odd occasion it all freezes over much more significantly. I'd take a heated steering wheel (I have one now) over heated front glass 100 times out of 100.

@OneMoreTime23
The car isn't idling, It's not switched on.
I can set the app from the comfort of my lounge to pre-warm the car. It takes about 10 minutes.
When I get in all the ice has gone from all windows. The heated seat and steering wheel are toasty warm.
The battery is still at 100% as my car is plugged in when I'm at home so the tiny amount of energy used to run this function is immediately replaced.
I love it.

This.

I made sure to get a cover that goes over the side windows too.

I had a heated windscreen in a previous car (Ford) which was great but I remember it had wiggly lines all over it which was a bit irritating (I am easily irritated) - is this still the case with newer cars?