Summer is a time for when the hot sun tends to exhaust people. This hot weather is also challenging for vehicles. When exposed to the hot sun during the middle of the summer, your precious car will become heated, both the interior and exterior, to a degree that is much higher than you may imagine. If continuously exposed to direct sunlight, the service life of your car will be reduced, and passengers will also struggle to fend off the heat. So, we prepared some good ways to help cool down your heated car during the summer.
The strong glare of summer sunlight rapidly increases the temperature of vehicles, both with their interior and exterior. In the summer, the internal temperature of a car parked indoor increases by about 10 degrees within just two hours, while that of a car parked outdoors may soar up to 70 degrees.
This increased temperature will cause harm to the car, including its heated engine, so it is recommended to park your car indoors or in the shade to avoid direct sunlight. If parking either indoors or in the shade is not possible, you are advised to reduce the amount of direct sunlight by covering your car windshield with newspaper or sun screen. By doing so, you can reduce the internal temperature of your car by 10-15 degrees.
One of the easiest ways to reduce the internal temperature of your car is to open up your windows by about 1cm. You may think that opening the window that much would not make much difference, but it is known that opening the window about 1cm helps to reduce the temperature of the dashboard by about 6 degrees, and that of the interior by about 5 degrees. As interior air begins to heat up, a marginal gap made by opening the window can help circulate the air inside the car, thus reducing the temperature. Opening the window too much may result in increased risk of theft, so you are advised to merely open the window about 1-2 cm, which can enable air circulation.
The dashboard, which is regularly exposed to direct sunlight through the windshield, can be heated by up to 100 degrees. If you leave your car with your smartphone left on the dashboard or park your car for a long time with your car navigation mounted, these electronic devices might malfunction or, at worst, explode. Therefore, during the summer, you need to be careful not to leave any important item, especially electronic devices, unattended inside your car. To prevent any potential accident from occurring, you are advised to block direct sunlight by, for example, putting a cover on the dashboard or covering the windshield, and for safety, it would be best to unmount electronic devices and keep any explosive material (e.g., lighters, camping goods) out of your car, however inconvenient that may prove to be.
The summer sun gives a hard time to both people and cars.
Your car has no way to tell you that it is being strongly affected by intense heat, so please remember these useful ways to decrease temperature by avoiding strong summer direct sunlight. These small habits can greatly affect not only the temperature of your car in the summer but it can also influence your safety. 
