Have they never heard of a block heater? Way cheaper than leaving your car running, unless the Russian government is giving them gas for damn near free.
At that temperature -40 and lower, a little block heater isn’t going to have the thermal output.
If anything a block heater large enough would require as much energy or more than the idling energy of the engine.
It’s best to let the engine run instead of subjecting the engine block and head to rapid heat and cooling cycles.
I have lived through winters colder than -40 and the block heater had no issues keeping my car in a state that it would start up right away.
And you’re better off leaving the engine running if you are going to turn it on again soon.
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