I don't know how common they are but I have seen block heaters on pickups sold in the northern states of the US.
Edit: omg I am so boring 😴
heading off on the mother of all tangents
So we are now discussing electric block heaters for ICEs and North American geography?
Well done chaps.
Huggis has got his Polestar now (hope you are happy with it Huggis) the thread has now entered the tangents, distractions and bickering phase having survived the anti-EV propaganda phase. 🙂
Huggis has got his Polestar
Wait a sec now. Who is Huggis and what’s a Polestar?
Anyway, back on topic - I always found forced circulation coolant heaters more efficient than block heaters.
Wait a minute…I don’t have my Polestar yet…made a mistake asking for opinions here and sparking a full on EV debate instead.
@huggis - I have rented a Polestar 2 several times from Hertz and have done bike trips. At my nearest branch (Birmingham airport) they have a glut of them and if you time booking right (about 10 days before) they are often cheaper than e.g. a petrol corsa (meaning they are super cheap for long trips assuming you have access to free/cheap charging). Get a 15% off code and you can get a 3 day weekend for <£100. It's a cheap way of trying it out. The downside is £2.5k excess (IIRC).
I have put a large Trek procaliber and medium Marlin in the back fine with front wheels off. The last one I did was north Warwickshire -> Wye Valley YHA -> Cardiff (Castles and Cathedrals Sportive) -> home to north Warwickshire on a single charge. That was with a ML Merida Reacto- no need to remove front wheel. A few comments-
- Rear headroom is awful
- It felt a physically wide car to me.
- Polestar 2 (original version, not MY2024) is not too efficient compared to TM3. Fine if you have cheap charging.
- I haven't driven the MY2024.
- I liked P*2 "one pedal" driving more than TM3.
Not commenting on the China issue although it's not something I ignore either..
Oh, and referring to a comment above- I have done a 125m motorway commute (yes, non-stop without charging and not just slipstreaming lorries..) in a Tesla Model 3 LR DM with moderate heating at -4 back in December during the train strikes. Left at 5am (dark and slushy all the way- headlights and wipers on intermittently). Used about 55% of battery each way (225m implied range). I don't doubt somebody managed (with great effort, heating on max, no regen, highly illegal speeds, ...) to do only 120m but it doesn't tally with my personal experience.
FYI (not looked at EV thread but I probably should...): in the end I got a Kia Niro EV 3 (cheap sal sac lease). Boot door is slightly more practical for bikes. It's a slightly higher volume but load space seem not quite as long as P*2 (makes sense as car footprint is a little smaller). Slightly more efficient. Not quite as refined motorway cruising. Not as intuitive as P*2 to drive (but that might be personal).
I’ve got a Polestar 2.
It’s fine in comparison to other non-electric cars. Can’t compare to other electric cars as haven’t driven any.
Range of 210-270ish depending on temperature.
Glass on tail gate goes right to the edge so would need to be careful with a rear boot carrier. There are no mounts for roof bars so it’s the type that fit onto the roof and under the doors.
Bike goes into the back really easy with the seats down, particularly with a wheel off.
No tow bar so no comments from me there.