Not everyone. It is a very small minority where I live.

I don't even see people letting their cars idle while scraping, which was the norm 15 years ago. I think the info has spread that it is bad for your engine and the environment. And newer cars don't need it at all.

On my region I see it all the time during cold Winter mornings.

Throughout the years living here, I have learned that following every law by the book, is more a stereotype foreigners have about Germany than how things actually work.

I have to idle my 2015 car in the winter so that the windows don’t fog up. If there was a way to get the defrost to turn on at full blast with hot temps and not running the car I would be all for it.

Wait, that makes no sense in the context of the above argument.

For the windows to fog up, you need to sit in the car right? How long do you need to sit in your car until they fog up? Why are you sitting in your non-moving car for so long? And how often does that happen?

In our cars it takes about 10 minutes in cold winter before the fog comes up when around 2 people sit in it, unless it is raining and we just jumped in wet a minute ago. And it's gone a minute after starting the AC again. And one is a small car 2 week short of being 20 years old.

From this viewpoint I cannot possibly understand your reasoning? Are you trying to find an excuse to disable Start/Stop?

> For the windows to fog up, you need to sit in the car right?

False. In autumn, when temperatures are low and winter comes (minuses) the humidity is really high. I can't tell you exactly what must happen, but I'v had fogged windows in the morning.

The quickest way to get rid of foggy windows is max heat, with AC on.

Aftermarket 12v defrosters exist.

In Scandinavia, very many (probably a clear majority) of cars are equipped with 230 V heaters. There's a connector in the front of the car, you plug the car into an electric socket which has a timer. It goes on in the morning an hour before you plan to leave, and heats up the engine block (heating resistor in the coolant) and optionally there's a Schuko socket in the front passenger's feet and you can plug a heater with a fan there, so that the inside of the car is warm and dry. Both the engine and the cabin heaters range from 600 to 1200 watts.

Most cars can have one installed at the dealership too

Is it actually bad for the engine? I presumed that stressing a cold engine while driving is worse than just letting it idle. I have a 2018 car and it gives a warning light if the engine is cold. At the very least it makes scraping take half the time.

Yes, according to the manufacturer of one of my cars, idling the cold eninge should be avoided - considerate driving quickly after starting the cold engine should be considered instead.

The argumentation in the manual is that the car won't reach operational temperatures for a longer time while idling. New efficient motors apparently idle very efficiently (surprise?), which generates not enough heat.

I see. My old 2000 acura would idle another 1000 rpm higher when it was cold, maybe to warm it up faster. Some new cars seem to shut off completely at a stop until you hit the throttle.