Windshield defroster

With the recent cold temperatures in Ontario lately, I've had a chance to try the front windshield defroster option in the menu. I only had about 3-4 inches of frost at the bottom of my windshield, but it never melted after about 15 minute (I reset it halfway through the 8 minute defroster timer).
Can the defroster only handle fog up situations, and therefore I need to use the max defrosting setting for ice?

I might just take it to the dealer to have it looked at while the temperatures are still below freezing.

Yes, going to the dealer is your best bet. I have used my car's windshield wire defroster many times and it always works very quickly. I live in the mild SF Bay Area and if there is frost, it's usually gone within a minute or two.

Ambient temperature is going to play a big role in whether the resistive heater in the windshield is going to melt any frost on your windshield. The SF Bay Area experience above (likely around 0C) does not really apply to Ontario, Canada and -20C. I would not be surprised at all if the wattage is not sufficient to melt frost/ice/snow if the ambient is below -10C.

And it doesn't snow in San Francisco.

The ambient temperature was definitely lower than -10 celcius, maybe I'm expecting too much from the wired windshield defroster. I might try it at multiple temperatures to see if it works at all. I don't really like the idea of parking it outside of the garage though.

This direct heating defroster is a great idea, but it is a bit anemic. It works relatively well for moisture or light frost, but as the air temperature drops, it becomes barely functional. An ice storm or lots of snow requires the air defroster.

In the 1970's and 1980's, Ford (and others) had a direct heating defroster that was reported to work very well. It used a very thin gold coating on the glass, instead of embedded wires.

All EV's need to have direct heating defrosters, and if they are strong enough for driving in an ice storm, all the better.

Yes your right, the wired front windshield is not new, and didn't work very well; but what I don't get is why we didn't get the windshield currently offerd to golf owners in Europe.

http://autoweek.com/article/technology/volkwagen-will-defrost-your-windshield-silver

arcticClover said:

Yes your right, the wired front windshield is not new, and didn't work very well; but what I don't get is why we didn't get the windshield currently offerd to golf owners in Europe.

http://autoweek.com/article/technology/volkwagen-will-defrost-your-windshield-silver

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Awesome! Every EV needs this!