We waste three hours of our lives, each and every year, defrosting our car’s windscreen, according to new research.
The study, by Skoda, asked 2,000 drivers how long it typically took them to clear an iced-up windscreen.
The average time was 5 minutes and 13 seconds which, when applied to around 37 ‘air frost days’ the UK experiences each year, adds up to more than three hours of scraping, thawing, and generally standing around in the cold, annually.
But - as Skoda points out - switching to an electric vehicle (EV) could hand you that time back, due to the fact the EVs have a ‘pre-conditioning’ function that warms the car and defrosts the windows, while you sit indoors enjoying a cup of tea and some toast.
As for those three hours - it’s the equivalent of you being able to sit down to watch the notoriously-long new movie Avatar: The Way of Water from start to finish!
There were other stats gleaned from the Skoda data.
More than half of the UK motorists polled were unaware that they could face fines of up to £80 for defrosting their windscreen with the engine running.
It is a breach of the Highway Code, Rule 123, to leave a parked vehicle unattended with the engine idling or to leave the engine running unnecessarily while it is stationary on a public road.
Yet three quarters (76%) admit they turn their engine on and keep it running while defrosting their car to ‘aid’ the process.
Many drivers (13%) spend even longer than the average defrosting windows, devoting eight to 10 minutes to the task.
The most commonly employed weapon to combat the frost was the car’s heating system (63%), followed by an ice scraper (57%), de-icer (44%), windscreen wipers (27%), boiled water (15%), while more than one in ten (13%) admitted to using their bank card or plastic card.
Meanwhile 74% of respondents said they were ‘unaware that electric vehicles can be remotely preconditioned via an app – or set via the infotainment – to defrost the windscreen’.
A Skoda spokesperson adds:
“Drivers who keep the charging cable connected when preconditioning the car avoid drawing energy from the battery and ensure the maximum possible driving range when they set off.”
Skoda’s Enyaq iV - which you can lease with Select from around £475 per month * - also features a heated steering wheel, heated front seats, heated front washer nozzles, and tri-zone climate control.
Overall, when you apply the Skoda figures to 40.8 million licensed vehicles in the UK, we waste the equivalent of 337 years defrosting windscreens per year.
*Prices include VAT. Credit is Subject to Status, Ts and Cs and Arrangement Fees apply. Excess mileage may apply. Stock levels and prices correct as of 25/01/23.
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