Hey Maine, Here’s How Fast Your Car Heats Up On a Summer Day

I think we can all agree that the spring of 2025 was not all that great.

It was cold, wet, and dreary.

About the only thing this spring was good for was washing all the dog poo off the front lawn!

Then, like God flipped on the summer light switch, we went from cold and wet to a full-on hot and sunny summer!

As if that was not enough, we're now facing our first heatwave of the summer.

Most of us know the importance of keeping living, and delicate, things out of a hot vehicle, but how long does it take for your car to become an oven?  Also, how hot can a car get?

How Quickly Does Your Car Heat Up in the Sun?

According to a July 2020 article on the Business Insider website, at just 70 degrees the interior of a vehicle reaches 89 degrees after 10 minutes, 99 degrees after 20 minutes, and will be at over 110 degrees after an hour.

Yes, on a day when it is only 70 degrees.

What about a day when the temperatures will be similar to what we are expected to have this week?

On a day when it is 95 degrees your car will reach 114 degrees after 10 minutes.  After a half hour, the interior will be about 130 degrees and after an hour the temperature will have climbed to nearly 140 degrees!

READ MORE: Don't Get Caught Swimming in This Maine Lake

We were all shocked by how quickly a vehicle heats up in the sun and how hot it can get inside a vehicle even though it is not that warm outside.  Even on a typical spring-like day, a vehicle can easily reach over 100 degrees in a short amount of time.

While it is important to remember that these numbers are based on a vehicle being in direct sunlight, the interior can still reach dangerous temperatures even when the vehicle is in the shade.

It's another reminder of why you never want to leave people or pets in your car on a hot day.  Sadly, Baxter, Maine's first comfort dog, recently passed away after he was left in a hot car on a warm day.  The vehicle was running and the AC was on, but it failed and Baxter died.  This event happened in late May proving that it takes not take a severely hot day to hear a vehicle to deadly temperatures.