The Coolest Car Features To Embrace The Heatwave

With the weather this week building up to another heatwave and reports of the hottest day of the year soon to be upon us, many of us will be venturing out in our cars. Whether you are taking a trip to the seaside, going for a drive in the countryside or merely commuting to work in the hot weather, keeping cool is an essential part of staying safe.

Long gone are the days when the only option was to open the windows, these days air conditioning is a must and is a standard feature in surely all modern day cars. But aside from merely turning on the air conditioning, what are some of the coolest features that can be specified on modern day cars.

How many of the following do you have on your current car? Or will be something you look to include when you purchase your next vehicle?

Climate Seats

First came heated seats, then came massage seats and now manufacturers have taken the functionality that step further with climate seats. Rather than just having cold air blown at you from the air vents in the car, why not also have cold air ventilation blown at you through the seat at the same time.

Perfect for when your car has been sat in the sunshine all day and the seats have been absorbing the sunlight so are scorching to touch when you get in, or for when you’re sat in traffic on a hot summer’s day. The addition of the climate seat ensures you are covered throughout the summer and the winter months to regulate your temperature whatever the weather throws at you.

What could be more satisfying than being kept perfectly cool whilst driving along in your prestige car, especially if you have the option of being massaged at the same time. Many manufacturers from Lamborghini, Rolls Royce and Bentley, to Audi, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Range Rover and Porsche all now offer climate seats as an option on their cars. So whilst you are looking cool from the outside, you can also be keeping cool on the inside.

In Car Refrigerator

Whilst you are keeping yourself cool from your climate seat you might feel the need to keep hydrated with a nice, chilled drink to keep you going. Where better to get one than from your very own in-car refrigerator or chiller.

A feature that surely started when some manufacturers included a cold air feed to the glovebox, has evolved into a refrigerator compartment in the centre console big enough to hold a few bottles of your favourite beverage. A common feature in Range Rover models for some time now, the centre console refrigerator even has an adjustable temperature setting to keep your drinks just the way you want them.

Not to be outdone, only the most exclusive of Range Rovers and Rolls Royce Cullinan models can also be specified with a champagne chiller compartment in between the rear seating. So wherever you are going in your ultra-luxurious SUV you can get there in style by sipping on chilled champagne presumably whilst being chauffeur driven too.

If the option of a refrigerator or champagne chiller compartment in your vehicle is a bit too lavish, some cars also come with the feature of chilled cup holders too. Introduced by BMW in their 7-series flagship saloon, the option to keep your drinks heated or cooled in the cup holder is a great way to make sure you stay hydrated no matter what season it is.

App Preconditioning

Once reserved for only the most expensive of SUV’s, the ability to precondition your vehicle before you get into it has become a common feature of many prestige EV’s these days. This is mainly due to the fact that the pre-conditioning can be powered from an EV’s battery, an advantage over draining the battery of a combustion engine car.

Not only is this feature fantastic in the winter months to clear off the ice from the windscreen, warm up the interior of the car, heat the seat and sometimes the steering wheel too, it can also be used in the summer months for the opposite. Preconditioning your car in the summer allows you to select the perfect airconditioned temperature you would like your car to be when you get in, rather then entering a humid oven-like environment if your car has unfortunately been parked in the hot summer sun all day.

Not only is this a convenient feature, but it is also usually controlled by the car’s app on your phone. So when it is getting to the end of the working day or you’re walking back to the car after a long day in the sunshine, a quick tap can ensure your car is already cool before you even get into it.

Dog Mode

Not content with just keeping occupants cool in the summer sunshine, the often innovative manufacturer of electric cars, Tesla, have once again been thinking outside the box when it comes to what other technology you might need when it comes to keeping your car cool. Their focus, on people’s pets.

Realising that people may need to keep their pets in their cars on hot summer’s days, Tesla have a specific setting accessed from their large touchscreen that allows you to set the climate control when you are not in the car specifically for your dog. Not only that, but a message is displayed on the large screen telling passers by that this function has been activated as to not concern them at the fact a dog has been left in the car on a hot day.

With the number of dog owners in this country at an all time high, it is reassuring to know that the American manufacturer has man’s best friend’s best interests at heart and that your Tesla can be the perfect cool place to leave them when the temperature is on the rise.

Event Seating

Not really a feature to keep you cool whilst you are in the car, more a feature you may not know existed to let you enjoy the most of the fantastic weather. While brands such as Range Rover and Rolls Royce may offer the option of ‘event seating’ where comfortable seating extends from the split tailgate to allow for a place to rest and enjoy the scenery, some brands can create bespoke features to really maximise the experience.

Luxury brand Bentley have taken the feature that step further with their in-house Mulliner programme offering the ‘Mulliner Hamper’ option for a cool £20,000. For that you don’t just get a wicker hamper to put in the boot for a picnic, you get so much more than that.

A customised storage unit is fitted to the boot that not only stores and chills your champagne and crystal glassware, and a place to keep your Bentley monogrammed cutlery and fine china crockery, but also has space for all your exquisite food and features a fold out quilted leather bench seat to sit on. There’s even a ‘Flying B’ branded stopper to keep the fizz in your champagne bottle.

Surely there is no better way to enjoy the polo, the horse trials or to take in the scenery whilst you enjoy the fine summer weather we’re having. It may not keep you any cooler in the hot sun, but it makes sure you look chic whilst enjoying the most British of summer activities, the most sumptuous of picnics.

Oracle Car Finance

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