window defrost - blizzard mode?

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essaunders

Well-known member
Joined
May 3, 2010
Messages
378
Location
southern NH
I made the mistake of leaving work and driving home through whiteout snow/wind conditions yesterday in my 2012 Leaf.. The temp as ~10F and the snow was falling fast. I had preheated for the full 15 min (not plugged in at work) just prior to cleaning off the car, plus a minute or two more (after two minutes of unnoticed post-shutoff).

I had the cabin temp selector set to 68 (I think) and fan on high with both front and rear defrost buttons selected. I had the front wipers running on continuous 'normal'

Yet still, my windshield was icing and ice building up on the blades.

Is this just a case of the car naturally struggling to keep up? Would setting the temp higher have helped? Is there something else people do?

My commute is very short so getting 1.9mpkwh, like I did yesterday, isn't a problem.

Note: my brand new Continental TrueContact with EcoPlus tires handled the snow like a charm.
 
One of the most frustrating things about the climate control in the MY2011/2012s (and there are many frustrations with the climate control!) is that it is not possible to run the defroster without bringing outside air into the cabin. When it is extremely cold, this results in massive power draw from the battery and a rapidly cooling cabin.

Why can't you simply recirculate the air in the cabin and still run the compressor to try to dry the air? That would still use quite a bit of power, but at least it would have a chance of heating the air that is going to the windshield.
 
I hear you.

I have only had one vehicle that handled blizzard situations like this very well.
I had a Range Rover with a directly heated windshield and heated wiper blades.
Every other vehicle has been a slow losing battle against the snow, requiring stopping and pounding the frozen wiper blades against the frozen windshield.

Keep in mind, that the rest of the Range Rover was a TOTAL nightmare, but the windshield heater was nice.

Even if you can generate and direct the needed heat to the windshield, it will cook your eyeballs at the same time, and still not heat the wiper blades on the outside of the vehicle.

My problems has always been the LED headlights frosting over or being covered in snow.

I preheat on L2, which takes care of the windshield, and while I LOVE the LED headlights, they will never melt the frost off.

Can't scrape them like a windshield.

I keep a 12VDC hair dryer in the car to melt the J1772 plug if it gets frozen, and I have used it a couple times on the headlights.

I would fit Leafy with electrically heated Wiper blades, but I confess that when it's really inclement, I drive a giant gas guzzling Suburban 2500 4WD (But I feel really bad about it :eek: )
 
everyone had snow 'drifting over' tail and brake lights - LED or otherwise. My headlights were clear when I got home.

I'll have to look into a 12V heater/blower. maybe I get get one that doubles as a driver foot well heater for days I'd rather not run the heat. then one device might defrost j1772 plugs, add to windshield heat, or provide footwell heat.
 
To the OP: did you turn off the A/C and have the defroster providing heat only? It takes heat to melt ice, and even on an ICE car, it is sometimes unable to keep ahead of the ice - and chilling the air with the A/C is working against what is already a very tough situation.

We need to have a direct heating windshield defroster - just like the rear defroster - but without the lines. The two methods are embedded tiny wires in the glass, or a molecule thick layer of gold on the glass; both heating the glass directly with a fraction of the energy used by the current design.
 
NeilBlanchard said:
To the OP: did you turn off the A/C and have the defroster providing heat only?
In the MY2011/2012, if there is air blowing on the windshield, the compressor is on and outside air is brought in. From his signature, it appears the OP has a MY2012.

Are the later models different in this regard?
 
Just as comparison, my MY2013 does just fine in the Colorado snow. We had a couple days a few weeks ago at -20F (and lower) and a day where it snowed about 8inches in a couple hours. Pre-heated the cabin for over an hour which was enough to get the accumulation on the windshield to at least turn from pure ice to slush and therefore brush away. On the drive home, HVAC was set to 82F defrost only, high fan. AC on for de-humidification. Never had problems with snow accumulation not going away. Wipers were set to periodic as normal and all was well. I do wish that all my Toyotas and the Leaf had steam blasters for the wiper fluid and heated blades. That would make it easier in the mornings.
 
Hi. I do have a 2012 SL. I had, I think, hit 'auto' at first, followed by pushing the defrost front and defrost rear buttons. It think I then upped the fan and then the heat. I'm pretty sure I didn't max the heat. i'm guessing I was at 68F - 70F ( I normally run 63F as temp, so this was 'up' for me). I didn't turn off AC.

would maxing the requested temp make a difference?
 
RegGuheert said:
NeilBlanchard said:
To the OP: did you turn off the A/C and have the defroster providing heat only?
In the MY2011/2012, if there is air blowing on the windshield, the compressor is on and outside air is brought in. From his signature, it appears the OP has a MY2012.

Are the later models different in this regard?

On my 13 you can hit defrost and then the A/C and Heat come on. But you can shut either or both off then. I often run with just the heat on the windshield no A/C and so far it has worked in heavy snow.
 
BrockWI said:
On my 13 you can hit defrost and then the A/C and Heat come on. But you can shut either or both off then. I often run with just the heat on the windshield no A/C and so far it has worked in heavy snow.

This is how our '15 Leaf S works, too. If we couldn't turn off the A/C (like most/all the recent ICE's I am familiar with) then this really is a problem in an ice storm, or a really cold snow storm.

In my ICE, I have long ago pulled the A/C fuse to get around this. In the Prius, you cannot pull the A/C fuse, because this totally disables ALL the HVAC in the car - which is just asinine.
 
for my snowstorm commute yesterday I resorted to very long preheat times. yesterday, I hit preheat twice for 30 min total (no plug at work) and didn't have too much trouble with conditions - but it was much nicer yesterday than a week ago.
 
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