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Comment by GekkePrutser | Hacker News Reader

Thanks also, I get it now. I used to do this manually sometimes in the Netherlands to warm up the ice to make it easier to scrape off. But it involved the spare key to relock it while running and also to set the heat to full blast. We never get minus 40 though and where I live now it doesn't even freeze :)

And as we also have pretty tiny engines here, it takes a long time to heat up this way because first the cooling water needs to get warm which takes ages with the engine running stationary. So I only did this once in a while if it was really needed.

My old Volvo did have an option to open all the windows with the remote though which was great to let the heat out in summer.

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Note that, for emmesions, heating up the car in stationary is actually positive. It prevents driving a car with a cold engine. Cold engines cause horrible inefficiency in cars. It's one of the reasons why city driving is worse for mileage and emissions than highway driving. Shorter trips.

I am unable to find a source for this. Until now I thought heating up stationary is bad concerning all possible aspects, including emissions.

Seems to be caused by the period before the catalytic converter gets up to normal exhaust temperature.

“Vehicles fitted with catalytic converters emit most of their total pollution during the first five minutes of engine operation; for example, before the catalytic converter has warmed up sufficiently to be fully effective.”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalytic_converter

Sure. But otoh the car is idling for tens of minutes maybe and possibly no single part of the engine and exhaust system is gaining the needed temperatures to operate cleanly. This means more emissions, more wear and more stressed out neighbours. I'm sure about the last one at least.

There is probably a sweet spot. Certainly, you want to avoid loading a cold engine too much. But don't idle for qn hour either.

But then you cause those bad emissions in your car park while it's heating up :)

I don't there is a big benefit overall.

Almost every car I’ve recently owned and/or rented has this option: unlock the car, then hold down the unlock button to roll all the windows down (and in some models, additionally open the sunroof).

I hate this feature with all my heart. Ive never needed it or wanted it and can easily roll down my own windows. 4-5 times ive come back to my car and windows rolled down after shopping or working as i must have accidentally activated it.

Same for the remote trunk opener. I can't count how many times people rang my doorbell at night to alert my the trunk is open.

Why on earth?

I hate it when it's operated by remote, but it's really nice to do it with the key in the lock. If you have to leave your car outside in the sun and you know it won't be raining, you can easily crack all the windows 1.5 inches or so to let the heat easily escape your car.

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