SHORT TRIPS? FAST WARM UPS? MPG?

[Phase]

So everyone knows that short trips with the engine cold give you horrible mpgs...

Heck in my ioniq today, a 5 mile short trip to get groceries and back with ''hypermiling'' netted me 29mpg. and its a HYBRID! obviously this was because the engine was cold and none of the fluids or parts were warmed up and at the best operating temp...

IS THERE A WAY to speed up this warming up cycle or get better gas mileage for shorter trips? would a winter heat block still help the engine warm up during hot summer months? does parking in the sun help the engine warm up faster? what other things or '' hacks'' can someone do to get better short trip driving fuel economy?

[WD40]

block heater if you have one and don't use the heater at all till its warmed up
use the seat heaters and steering wheel heater to keep you alive

[Phase]

Originally Posted by WD40

block heater if you have one and don't use the heater at all till its warmed up
use the seat heaters and steering wheel heater to keep you alive

im talking about with summer weather. obviously engine gets to optimal temps better when its 80 degrees outside versus 15 degrees. but theres gotta be another way?

[freebeard]

Engine block heater, then the transmission.

Another way? Aggregate trips to include at least one longer one.

[Phase]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Engine block heater, then the transmission.

Another way? Aggregate trips to include at least one longer one.

thats what im doing, trying to combine trips, but sometimes i cant

wondering if parking facing the sun would slightly help lol

[Piwoslaw]

Block heaters are good, but remember about their electrical consumption...

Putting a heating pad on the trasmission (as freebeard mentioned) and/or on the oilpan will supplement the block heater.

Block the grille so that the wind doesn't keep cooling the engine.
Also, thermally insulate the engine, so that it doesn't cool off too much while you are shopping.

If it is just a few miles, then cut heat or A/C. In fact, even the seat and steering wheel heaters WD40 mentioned will probably impact engine load more than your comfort.

If you have a plug-in hybrid, then keep the speed low, so that the electric assist has a larger share than the ICE.

Last, but not least - If it is not far, maybe you could bike there?
Or maybe plan a shopping carpool with a neighbor?

[Ecky]

Prius has a coolant thermos that holds a large amount of coolant and keeps it hot from the previous trip.

Block heaters work. I've found that especially in winter, they save money overall, so long as you run them less than 2 hours or so.

[Isaac Zachary]

I think it depends on the particular block heater. They all work, but the more the wattage the more heat you can get into the engine. In other words, if you run a 200W block heater for 2 hours you get 400Wh of heat, but the engine will be warmer if you run a 1,200W block heater for 20 minutes. It's still the same 400Wh of electricity you'll spend on, but the heat has less time to dissipate out of the engine.

Facing the sun helps. I have tried opening the hood so the sun heats it directly, but I don't know if that helps all that much and there's a chance the battery will be robbed, or maybe something else since my battery is in the trunk.

Also, if the interior gets really hot you could run the heater in recycle mode, especially if you have an electric heat pump since that can allow you to do this with the engine off. That way you add heat to the engine by passing the hot interior air through the heater core which then pumps the warmed coolant through the engine.

I don't think heated seats use all that much electricity. They might use only 40 or 50W. Of course we're talking summer now, but when winter comes heated seats are the way to go.

I never noticed much of a difference with blocking the grill, but I never was that scientific about it. I think maybe insulating the engine might be better. I think I'd like to use mineral wool as it's more flame resistant than fiber glass. Of course if you have an oil leak it will become a giant wick ready to be ignited.

I'd like to try an exhaust to coolant heat exchanger some day. One that goes on after the catalytic converter.

I love the idea of a giant thermos to put the coolant after a drive and then back into the engine before the next. Sadly, I don't get that warm of engine temps on my routes: I just got home from work with an engine temp of 104°F.

[Ecky]

In Vermont, I found a grille block was the single biggest improvement for my commute in winter. That said, my car has a large engine with a lot of surface area.

[Phase]

I have an Ioniq with active grill shutters. In the winter it closes them automatically. So no point in a grill block for me

And I was specifically talking about faster warm up times even in summer. Hoping next year I can move out of my apartment and get a place that’ll allow me to plug in a heat block for winter time