I’d like an update on this – did you take it further? Was it successful? I’m looking for a solution to the weekend away problem – we have two dogs and we’d like to travel with them, spending some of the time on beaches, walking and other dog-friendly activities, and some of the time in museums, eating posh lunches and other non-dog-friendly activities. We’ve about to buy a car, and I’d really like to solve this problem, but unfortunately the only out-of-the-box solution seems to be a pick-up, parked in the shade – and my husband doesn’t like the image and hates the idea of something so gas-guzzling to commute in.

My best potential solution at the moment, to be tested, is to buy a pale coloured car, get reflective screens for any potentially sunny windows, get muttmanagers.com grilles so that the windows can stay open, and park in the shade – plus use a wireless device to warn of a temperature rise.

And, if all that computer programming fails and the dog dies I’d hope the car would turn the heater on to make sure it’s cooked properly.

Hybrid’s should appear next year. Not a minivan, but should serve you well. I saw a report about this on a news broadcast the other night. Looks very nice, supposed to have all the power of a standard Gas version, and doesn’t require you to plug it up and charge it.

http://www.fordvehicles.com/escapehybrid/frameset.asp

I was excited to learn just now that an off-the-shelf Toyata Prius is able to maintain a comfortable temperature for a dog on a hot (or cold!) day while locked with all windows closed:

http://www.hybridcars.com/wholet.htm

Here is the relevant portion:

And of course there’s our dog, SAM…

HybridCars: Pardon?

John: SAM is considered part of the family. I discovered that the Toyota has an excellent climate control system. It can maintain a specific temperature even while parked and unattended. Quite often we like to take SAM for a run after shopping or visiting friends so we bring him along. Because of the climate control system we can leave him in the car on hot or cold days and the car will maintain a desired temperature while parked in the lot.

HybridCars: I’ve never read any reports of this!

John: Yeah, with millions of dog owners around you would think this to be a good topic for expansion however I think there are careful considerations such as having enough gas in the tank. You wouldn’t want to run out of gas as the car would heat up fast on a summer day.

HybridCars: So how does it work and can present day Prius owners do the same?

John: Yes I believe so. It works like this – The Prius comes with two keys, one a master to open doors, set anti theft systems, start the car and the other key is just ignition. So I can keep the car on, roll up the windows and lock it up with SAM inside. The engine will start up and shut off as needed to maintain the set temperature. Say for example I set the temperature for 68 degrees Fahrenheit and it is 95 outside. The car will auto start for a few minutes to operate the compressor as needed. So when I return an hour or more later, SAM is happy and the car’s interior is exact to what I set it for. Most people don’t realize that leaving a dog in a car for even a short period of time on a hot day tortures the animal. Even with windows cracked open a few inches it is still brutal.

But of course the best idea is to not have your dog or animal with you if you have to leave it for more than a few minutes in any car or truck.

HybridCars: Does it work the same in cold weather?

John: Exactly. I have used this technique on cold days where it was around 7 or 8 degrees Fahrenheit and it regulated the temperature perfectly. And because of the quietness of the car and the small amount of exhaust, it is hard for anyone to notice it running.

An industry already exists to address this issue, at least if you drive a Crown Vic: police canine supply.

See http://www.castlek9.com/bail_out_system.htm

for the Criminalistics “Hotdog” temperature monitor; it rolls down your windows and starts a mounted electric fan when the temperature reaches a certain point.

I have heard of less successful implementations of this idea.

Well I didn’t know it was that kind of mesh. I mean, I have shirts that are made of mesh. I thought mesh is mesh. (I think there’s a Will & Grace episode in here somewhere).

Beau has the idea I would recommend. One or two secondary batteries. The stereo repair shop I worked at in college also did custom car audio installations which required the same thing. There are companies that make higher output alternators for a wide range of cars to specifically serve the multi-battery trunk of funk crowd.

“Because car makers don’t open their computer systems to programming (I never thought I’d say this but I wish that cars ran Windows XP so that I could add the above features myself in Visual Basic), it isn’t possible to build this right now very easily. However, I think I have a solution.”

Most cars these days only crash when you actually run into something. Why change now?

The uber-yuppie solution to a compact yet robust (none of this 20″ wheels stuff) is having an existing steel, or better yet titanium frame retrofitted with S&S couplers (examples at http://www.sandsmachine.com/spec_ssc.htm). Gotta say i haven’t used one but that design is beautiful, unless it creaks like crazy. They have lots of examples of bikes “folding” down tiny but a less labor-intensive application might be to leave the bike mostly intact and just break the frame apart once. The beauty is that in the end you have a real bike instead of some folding mini-wheeled contraption.

Also, i know it’s not very elegant but you can easily fit two normal bikes with wheels removed into the trunk of a corolla. If you care sufficiently little about your rear seats you can throw 2 bikes with rear tires on across them. No place for the dog then, though!