I use two:

One of those small, flat collapsible showels sits permanently in the spare wheel drum. It is similar to this one:
Gerber NATO shovel, but a different maker.
It is about a foot and a half long, folds in 3 segments (showel head + shaft + D handle). The shovel blade is solid steel, about 4-5 inches wide and a bit longer. The blade can be mounted at 90 degrees, so it will also serve as a small picket . The purpose of this showel is threefold:
- I always have SOMETHING (too small to be really effective, but much better than nothing).
- It is very good for clearing ice and hard snow.
- It is a makeshift "entering" tool for smashing wind screens and the like.


The other one is a cheap knock-off of the Ortovox Pro shovel
Ortovox pro shovel
It packs flat enough to sit under the passenger seat in the winter time - easy to get and big enough to be effective moving that fluffy pile of snow.


I won't have the heavy steel NATO shovel in my passenger compartment - but it resides permanently in the spare wheel drum. Most of the time, most task can be solved with the bigger plastic Ortovox copy, which is easy to reach. The NATO shovel is too small to be effective in snow, but will work on ice, hard snow and also on mud, dirt and sand - and also smash windshields if need be.