Remote starter

[Yves1970]

Is it worth it to get a remote starter for a 2021 rav4 xle hybrid

The sales person told me that it's not worth it because the ac system work with a type of thermopump 

So to just put the ac on hot in the winter it will take 1 min to warm up

[ernieb]

I'm not sure where you live but I doubt that the heat pump would bring the cabin to temperature in 1 minute, but based on my R4 PHEV....

The Heat Pump for the AC/Heater works effectively via either the key fob or the MyT app down to approx -10oC.  Below -10oC the engine, ICE, must kick in.

Since I bought my car in May I've used the remote temperature conditioning and it's worked every time.. There have not been very cold days but a few chilly ones and it was good to get into a warm cabin.  The MyT app also allows you to switch on the rear and front screen systems.

Looking at some YouTube videos based in the US at around the -10oC it seems to take around the 15 mins to get deep snow moving off the front screen, however, I think we all know that ice once it's got a small amount of warm air on the screen will shift pretty quickly.  

I'm always impressed that even on some of the hottest days we've had this year that the AC blows cold air almost immediately.  The Heat Pump in the Mk5 PHEV Rav's is incredibly sophisticated 

EDIT, R4 PHEV, the car does not have remote starting not sure about the Hybrid version.

[FROSTYBALLS]

The OP is in Canada.

[ernieb]

Thanks, pretty cold, so the Heat Pump will struggle in winter especially if the car is located outside.

[philip42h]

This thread confused me a tad. This is a UK forum - Remote Start is not available in the UK. As implemented in North America it is a feature of the Entune Audio system (Audio Plus apparently) and we have a different multimedia system in Europe.

The PHEV / Plug-in Hybrid / Prime (US) does have options to precondition the cabin while it is plugged-in to the mains - I think that is how it works - but that is very, very different from Remote Start.

I think - humble pie at the ready if I'm talking through my whotsit ... 😉

[ernieb]

@philip42h, no I think you’re correct with the exception that the preconditioning will work on the PHEV if there is charge in the traction Battery.  I checked it out again this morning to be sure and either the MyT app or the button on the key fob will trigger the Heat Pump into operation.  It’s been handy on the hot humid mornings we’ve experienced recently.  It better as you point out to have it connected to either the mains “granny” cable or 6.6Kw charger as this then takes energy from the house rather than the car.  I’ve tried that out using the 240v cable and that works well. I guess in the winter, as my car is outside on the drive, this method would be best for pre conditioning the car and defrosting. 

[ernieb]

Just been thinking about remote starting and remember many years ago when the company I worked for in the UK had a parent company in the north east of the US. I made many trips to visit and work on joint projects and loads of the guys I worked with had remote starters on their cars, mostly retrofits. It seemed at the time that just about any car could be retro fitted with a remote starter, long range key fobs etc.  I’m not sure how secure they would be against today’s standards but when the weather could and did often change over night and the snow ploughs would be clearing 2 foot of snow the remote start was a welcome fitting. It took me some time to work out what the long thin coloured poles were on driveways when I visited peoples homes only to find out that the 6 foot poles were there to show the contact snow plough team where the drive was some of the drifts were massive.

[Cyker]

I would have loved a remote start and AC on the one time I visited the blazing hellscape that was Florida in the summer!!!

Alas in the UK such a system would be illegal tho' as there is a law against leaving a car on and unattended; It's also why the remote summon feature of Teslas is disabled here.

 

[philip42h]

12 minutes ago, Cyker said:

I would have loved a remote start and AC on the one time I visited the blazing hellscape that was Florida in the summer!!!

Alas in the UK such a system would be illegal tho' as there is a law against leaving a car on and unattended; It's also why the remote summon feature of Teslas is disabled here.

The capability is not actually illegal as I understand. You could use it off the road on private land - your driveway for example - and you could use it while parked on the roadside provided that you didn't leave it unattended - so a bit pointless but not illegal! 😉

[Cyker]

Yeah, it falls into a bit of a grey area - As with all these sorts of things it comes down to who is liable!

 

[alan333]

My current Ford has remote start.  I briefly Googled the legalities and it seems it's perfectly legal on private ground, or on a privately owned work car park etc, but not on the public highway.  As a side note, I find it a great feature.  It tries to get the inside of the car to 21 degrees, so in summer it'll put the air con on at max, and in winter it puts on the heater, heated seats, steering wheel and screen.  The car stays locked and even after unlocking and getting in, it still won't do anything until it detects a key and you press the start button.

[Cyker]

Huh, interesting... how old is it if you don't mind?

I was under the impression car manufacturers had started removing such things due to the law concerns like the tesla summon thing I mentioned, but it looks like summon was reinstated quite some time ago so maybe everyone's now interpreting the law as you and philip said, i.e. the capability isn't illegal, just the use of it on public roads, so they're not liable if the owner 'misuses' those functions so are free and safe to implement them, and the owners is free to use it on e.g. a private driveway.

And that also means that if you have a driveway and leave your car idling unattended, you are also not breaking the law!

 

[alan333]

11 hours ago, Cyker said:

Huh, interesting... how old is it if you don't mind?

I was under the impression car manufacturers had started removing such things due to the law concerns like the tesla summon thing I mentioned, but it looks like summon was reinstated quite some time ago so maybe everyone's now interpreting the law as you and philip said, i.e. the capability isn't illegal, just the use of it on public roads, so they're not liable if the owner 'misuses' those functions so are free and safe to implement them, and the owners is free to use it on e.g. a private driveway.

And that also means that if you have a driveway and leave your car idling unattended, you are also not breaking the law!

 

It'll be a year old next month.