Friday offtopic: The war on windshield defrosting

[kiaa]

In case you missed the headlines (or your car texted you the alert), German regulators have effectively forced Toyota's premium Lexus brand to turn off the remote pre-heating feature on hundreds of thousands of combustion-engine vehicles sold in Germany so you can no longer cozy up a frozen car at the tap of an app before you've even found your gloves. The official line is refreshingly undramatic: lawmakers consider unattended idling "avoidable pollution", so Toyota flipped a software switch to keep owners out of trouble, while all-electric and plug-in models still get their toasty interiors:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/economy/germany-forces-lexus-to-remotely-turn-off-car-warm-up-function-over-environmental-impact-report/3801107

Meanwhile, in the "send this to your cousin who thinks AI writes secret laws" corner of the internet, some outlets are gleefully proclaiming that Germany has declared remote start a crime against humanity and that "Big Brother" is yanking buttons right out of your dashboard:
https://autos.yahoo.com/policy-and-environment/articles/germany-forces-lexus-remotely-kill-173212814.html

That sort of sensational spin makes great water-cooler outrage but only serves to remind us that the real world often has perfectly rational explanations - even if it's colder waiting for your windshield to defrost.