Weirdly, the most popular car in Ulan Bator (capital of Mongolia) is the Prius because in their super cold winters it, of all cars, starts and runs best in the cold.
The Prius Secret is that the engine is so loosely tuned it doesn't have much friction when starting, the oil also has the viscosity of colored water :)
Best of all it uses the EV motor and battery to crank the ICE engine, there's no separate weak-ass starter motor.
Had mine in -30C weather for a weekend, cranked it on monday night and it just - started. Like it had been vacationing in the French Riviera.
Compare that to my old Diesel VW, which - when cranked at the same situation - made a sound like someone was strangling a moose. I had two attempts to get it to start, then the battery would run out because of the friction caused by the thick-ass oil.
