The cost of remote start in MPG and dollars?

[SwampNut]

Yesterday I learned that the remote start still won't even let you drive if the key is not around the driver's seat. I had the fob in a bag of stuff I was taking to a friend's house, and set it in front of the passenger seat. No go.

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[karsonwithak]

FYI: It's against the law in most states to leave your car running, it's also a TERRIBLE thing to do to our planet. I drive a JT and I'm hardly a model citizen when it comes to zero carbon footprint but this is a bad habit and easily fixed, imho.

https://www.rd.com/article/car-idling-illegal/

 

[SwampNut]

I will continue to do it, but yeah, it's *possibly* illegal. It also makes nearly zero difference to the environment compared to industry and even volcanoes.

The linked article is technically correct and yet lies. Arizona has idling laws, yet doesn't simply say "nobody can idle a car." When you read the law, you will see that it says something different from what the misleading hype article wants you to believe.

Finally, the article talks about "warming up" for the vehicle's sake, which has been unnecessary for decades. I do it to cool down for my comfort.

 

[NightFog]

Remote start is a convenience for us pussies that don't want to get in a cold or hot vehicle.
I use mine when we have one of those polar vortex things.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

During the hot part of the year, I remote start nearly every single time I'm going to drive. I've always been curious about what that costs, and for the first time, I have a vehicle with a reliable MPG indicator in the dash. I judged this because it always correlates closely with an actual calculated MPG, whether I've towed, gone off road, or just driven around light. Previous vehicles were not only off by a lot, but also varied a lot in their error depending on what I did with them.

2020 Gladiator Launch Edition, 3.6L, 8-speed auto, Rubicon, 1" leveling kit, some lights and winch, otherwise stock. I do have the factory tonneau cover.

My daily mixed driving fuel economy is quite steady. I have to drive 4 miles just to get into town, at about 48 MPH. From there I might do in-town errands at 50-ish, with normal suburban main road traffic and lights. I might take the highway on occasion (72) to various other places. I can't find a huge variation based on my heavy-highway days versus city days. I mostly get about 18.5 indicated, and just over 18 calculated.

Remote starting drops it to 16.5 indicated and just over 16 calculated. So about a 2 MPG loss. My remote starts tend to be lengthy, 5+ minutes. Shorter ones obviously have less impact. When I did a few days testing at less around 2-3 minutes of run time, the loss was around 1 MPG.

According to my fuel logs, I've paid an average of $2.17 for gas, which was mostly in AZ, some in CA. So the dollar cost for remote starting is around 20 cents per gallon, or just under two cents per mile. In a 10k mile year (pre-COVID norm), that's a 70 gallon penalty if I did it all the time, but I'd guess it's half the year, so 35 gallons extra. Amounting to $76. Well worth it.

I've been screamed at twice for the environmental impact that remote start causes, I don't care, don't bother.

Good that you don't live in certain places that prohibit a vehicle running for more than a certain amount of time.
I'm not knocking you for doing the remote start - in the COLD I do it, and when my truck sits out in the hot Iowa sun on a day like this and it's 97 with 97% humidity - I'd do it as well. I feel fortunate that I can. Yes, I'm concerned about impact - but I try to balance things out.............
This isn't a comment about you and your comfort or choice, just saying some of us are lucky in where we live - we don't have someone complaining about a running vehicle and then go out to see a summons on it.
Somewhere I have a PDF that lists all of the towns/cities, counties, parishes, states and so on that prohibit unattended idling (remote start) for certain amounts of time.

It's really hard to figure how many gallons it costs - yeah, you can figure it against mpg - the fuel consumed while sitting will vary with load, ambient temp, humidity and other factors.
I'd bet you're actually spending less than 76 bucks unless you REALLY let it sit - and these cool off pretty quickly, IMO.

 

[SwampNut]

I've been harassed by a cop for doing it, so we're not immune. My answer was, "Write the ticket, I want to go to court." He kept telling me not to do it again, I kept saying I would, and that I refused to shut it down right now. "Write it." He didn't.

I just went and researched it, and the only idling laws I can find for my area have to do with heavy trucks, not light trucks. So it doesn't apply to cars or personal pickups. I wonder how many cops are simply making up the laws on the spot, as they often do?

 

[jimbom]

Yesterday I learned that the remote start still won't even let you drive if the key is not around the driver's seat. I had the fob in a bag of stuff I was taking to a friend's house, and set it in front of the passenger seat. No go.

Just curious, does it lock it in park, kill the engine, or what?

 

[SwampNut]

Just curious, does it lock it in park, kill the engine, or what?

Leaves it locked in park. It does not shut down. Which is nice, with the Viper cellular control I had in the JK, it would shut down if you hit the brake and forgot to turn the key first. Annoying.

 

[jimbom]

Did you give it time to arm? I can't remember how long, but it doesn't arm immediately. And I believe it would still kill the engine if you get really far from the key.

Also, is theft such a worry around you that you'd change your life over it? I'd be more worried about being hit by lightning. I don't even lock it some of the time.

I just did a more thorough test. Reminder, this is a 6-speed manual. Got in and started the truck with the button. Then I exited, locked it with the handle button, placed the fob >60 ft away, with the (concrete) house between it and the truck. Let the truck idle there for ~ 5 minutes. Reached in the open window (i.e. simulated smashed window,) unlocked the door, got in and drove it a couple miles.

No alarm, just a chime at first and a message to the would-be thief that he doesn't have the fob. On the drive I tested the autostop/start -- it worked fine. I even shut it off with the button AND COULD RESTART IT! I shut it off again and this time opened the door (which immediately kills things like A/C fan, radio, etc.) and then it would not restart. If I hadn't opened the door and just waited long enough for those things to time out, my guess is it would not restart. This is all eye-opening to me.

 

[SwampNut]

That's really interesting. So leaving it running is vastly different from remote starting it.

 

[jimbom]

That's really interesting. So leaving it running is vastly different from remote starting it.

No remote start on the 6-speeds. I have a feeling an automatic would not have shifted out park in my test. Maybe you could test that out. If so, a (big) strike against the manual trans.

 

[jimbom]

No remote start on the 6-speeds. I have a feeling an automatic would not have shifted out park in my test. Maybe you could test that out. If so, a (big) strike against the manual trans.

I suppose it's possible mine is defective.

 

[SwampNut]

I suppose it's possible mine is defective.

That seems super unlikely. This all sounds like just the way software is written. In some ways, maybe it's a liability thing. What if your key fob failed or the battery died while you were driving, and the car shut off? You'd sue Chrysler. If it's stolen, that's your problem. I am betting that my auto will keep driving also, even though it's picky about starting as far as fob location.

 

[Mr._Bill]

When remote started, it runs for 15 minutes and then shuts off. It can only be remote started two times, and then it is locked out until the FOB is in the cab and the truck is started.

When remote started, it activates the climate control in the setting being used when it was turned off. When the door is opened, it turns on the radio. The climate control and radio can be adjusted, but the truck won't move until the FOB is in the cab and it is started.

Once started, it runs normally, even if the FOB is removed, except for the warning message on the display. Once turned off, and timed out, the FOB has to be there to start it again. This is why the FOB never leaves my pocket. I locked myself out one time, thirty years ago, when sixty miles from home. It has never happened again.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I used to think the same way, actually. While aggregate single vehicle traffic may be lessened, the net result is higher greenhouse gas emissions per item purchased. This is because of 2 factors: frequent online purchases produce more packaging waste, and online items tend to come from different distribution centers (here's an interesting CNN article).

Karen may go to Costco and buy $500 worth of bulk groceries; online, she may only buy a few items per purchase. Studies have shown people buy in small "need" bursts rather than purchase/need forecasting when at Costco (for example).

Please read this as informative and not that I'm a tree-hugger by any means. I actually find all of this very fascinating. Of course all of this is meaningless short-term discussion as long-term deliveries will be by drone (which I find even more fascinating).

IMO, drone usage and technology will be the "next big thing" to change our everyday lives. The architecture and technology are there; FAA approval and a logical map for drone navigation / traffic are the current barriers. This also assumes lithium ion (li) batteries (or cobalt free li or silicon anode li batteries) continue on their path of advancement.

Our mail carriers often have to make multiple trips because of all of the boxes. They used to pull up to the mail box and put things in, now they either pull down the driveway and leave the big boxes - or deliver the normal stuff then go back for more because they can't hold all of the boxes - 2nd trip for them.
The packaging I have to deal with - crazy. The boxes get recycled, but all of the plastic pillows and other stuff........
But then much of what we order can NOT be bought in stores around here.

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