Remote start: Like a remote control for your car, these devices let you start your car’s engine from inside your home or office to warm up the cabin in advance. Certain newer vehicles can remote start via smartphone. Some states have enacted legislation to minimize vehicle idling, including Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Texas, and Vermont.
Heated seats: Seating surfaces can warm you faster than your car’s heater can warm the cabin air. Certain luxury cars, such as the BMW 5 and 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S- and E-Class, have heated armrests and door trims as well. A few years ago you had to spring for leather upholstery to get heated seats, but many automakers, such as Hyundai, Jeep, and Subaru, now offer the option with cloth upholstery.
Heated steering wheel: An electric heating element runs along the rim of the wheel to warm it, giving drivers a comfortable, mitten-free grip. Some wheels can be set to turn on when the temperature drops below a set point.
Heated side mirrors: Heating elements like the ones used to defrost your back window can clear ice and frost from mirrors without the need for scraping.
Windshield wiper de-icers and washer jets: Ice and slush can cake up in your wiper blades and block your washer jets, so some cars have electric heating elements underneath the resting position of wiper blades and in the jets to melt icy obstructions away. Some luxury vehicles from carmakers such as Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and Volvo also have washer jets for the headlights to keep them clear—and you safer. That will get the grime off the headlights, but if they’re caked in snow or ice, you should clear off your headlights before driving. Some vehicles also heat the washer fluid reservoir and the nozzles to prevent freezing.
Heated windshield: These are still rare (seen on certain Jaguar, Land Rover, and Volvo models), but they can make clearing ice easier. One downside: The heating elements are made up of wavy lines across the windshield that can be distracting. Plus, we’ve found that these elements can block the signal of toll transponders such as E-ZPass.
Snow-friendly "beam" windshield wipers: These one-piece wiper blades have spring steel incorporated into the rubber. As a result, they can provide a more uniform pressure on windshields and a better wiping performance. But our testing has shown that cheap beam replacements can hurt performance. Good ones cost $20 to $60 for a pair at Amazon.com; a pair of conventional wipers can cost $15 to $50.
