First culprit: Have you considered a block heater?
Accelerating from stop lights: I'm for clearing the intersection expeditiously, at the least. My current ride has an 'Ecolight' that prompts short-shifting through the gears, but I ignore it in higher gears on uphill gradients. It can't look ahead.
Are the traffic lights on demand so it depends on cross-traffic? If you can see the (timed) lights a few intersections ahead, my son observes whether there is a wave going away or toward him.
If you roll up on a red light slowly (
ecomodder.com › blog › hypermiling-101-driving-without-brakes, often times you can avoid a complete stop.
HTH