Purely speculative but - fully electric cars stuck in the I95 mess?

[fishwax]

26. I have a plug-in hybrid, and heating the cabin requires very little of the battery power

When I use the front defrost, it will sometimes automatically kick in the gas engine even if I am operating in a fully electric mode, and I suspect that this is because not having a clear front windshield is a safety hazard. (The rear defrost, on the other hand, does not kick the gas engine on.)

I have worked in the car while stopped in cold weather (not in traffic, just in a parking garage) for as long as an hour, turning on the heat occasionally, and it didn't take more than 2% of the battery power. (I can run about 30 miles on pure battery.) This leads me to believe that a truly electric car could last a long time under such conditions. Additionally, I have heated seats, and it is much more efficient to heat the seat (which would also keep one's body temperature in a safe zone) than to heat the air in the car. So a car would have to be stuck for a long time (or would have already have to have been very low on battery power) for it to be a real concern.