Deployment of UICCs in IoT and M2M devices requires that the interface between UICC functions reliably in extreme temperature conditions. Extreme conditions may cause communication failures between the UICC and its device. The present application proposes various methods and devices for automatic recovery from UICC failure and UICC communication failures, commonly associated with extreme conditions (e.g., high temperature, low temperature, physical shock). The automatic recovery procedure includes applying one or more increased drive strength to the identity card, and may further include varying voltage and/or clock rate.