You can install our site as a web app on your iOS device by utilizing the Add to Home Screen feature in Safari. Please see this thread for more details on this.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
I really do not see what the issue here is. It's been explained technologically why the AC compressor in the Tesla is noisy, so what exactly do you want Tesla to do about it? I'm sure they'd love to reinvent the wheel here and build a ultra quiet AC electric AC compressor but the reality is they have a multitude of other engineering challenges and goals that are, quite frankly, far more important. I'll happily deal with a "loud" AC compressor in exchange for not having to burn dead dinosaur remains running said AC when the car is simply sitting there...
Call it unacceptable or whatever drama word you want to use, it doesn't really matter. It is what it is. If it bothers you that much perhaps you should take it upon yourself to invent an ultra quiet electrical AC compressor which no one else has invented to date. You'll make a ton of money and you won't have to worry about whining endlessly about your "loud" AC...
Yikes...
Jeff
I have to believe there is a solution or solutions that can help at least alleviate this.
The thing is that any engineering you want to do involves trade-offs.
I appreciate your commentary (and I'm not disagreeing with you), but if the noise+vibration issue is a known trade-off, then why is Telsa accepting my car into service for this issue? If it's a known issue, why would they not tell me that over the phone and at least attempt to discourage me from having it go to the service center?
Ask for a loaner of similar vintage and run it through your analysis. I did the same when I complained about an annoying clunk going over speed bumps. Was told it's normal and did see that the loaner I got made the same exact sound.
I ran my AC on LO and listened to the compressor ramp up to it's max level. I didn't find the noise excessive, just a high pitched but quiet humming coming from the front. Sitting inside, I could barely hear/feel it. 3 month old 85D.
It would be helpful to know what the temperature was when you made these recordings, and whether the battery might already have been hot from being used, or if the car had been just sitting in the garage for an extended period.I know this has been discussed before, but my 2 month old Model S AC is getting louder. Yes, I know it is getting hotter...!
I've attached a short version, and a longer one showing how the AC starts and kicks in. In that one, you can also hear the AC unit step up and down responding to the internal temp I think. (gets loud at 30 seconds)
The SC has heard the audio and after review say it is normal. I have to say my SC is fantastic, very helpful and I will defer to them for now.
However, this is far louder than it was even a week ago, and can be heard from quite a distance away.
Anyone else hear this?
Took a video of my car with max AC. Hard to tell if it's any different than your video. Hope it helps.
Yours sounds smoother than the OP's. On his, I almost think I am hearing a fan blade, either loose and vibrating or as if it is hitting something...
It would be helpful to know what the temperature was when you made these recordings, and whether the battery might already have been hot from being used, or if the car had been just sitting in the garage for an extended period.
I just heard what is probably the same sounds in my 2015 S for the first time. We had a 95F day here on Saturday -- extremely hot for our area, and humid. My car had been parked in the sun without moving for 2 or 3 hours, and it is a fairly dark color (multicoat red), so the interior temp was well over 100F when i needed to go out. I started the AC remotely using the phone app, a few minutes before I left. When I came out of the building, I heard the car, but at first did not realize it was my car. It sounded as if someone might be running a vacuum cleaner, perhaps to clean a car in a nearby garage. Not until I got closer to my car did I realize it was my car! To me, it sounded mainly like fan noise, and did not surprise me because of the extreme heat. The noise was reduced rapidly as the cabin cooled, and as I got the car moving.
Notably, the energy consumption that day was about the same as it was on the coldest winter days -- up in the 500 Wh/mile range. (But my trips were short.)
I appreciate your commentary (and I'm not disagreeing with you), but if the noise+vibration issue is a known trade-off, then why is Telsa accepting my car into service for this issue? If it's a known issue, why would they not tell me that over the phone and at least attempt to discourage me from having it go to the service center? I guess they could just be doing that to go through the motions, but it seems like a costly an inefficient way to tell people about their loud compressors.
All that said, I'm not convinced that everyone is having this same issue. It seems to be isolated/random as far as I can tell. There is very little commentary about the issue on the forum, and none in my local Tesla group. My buddy owns a shiny new Model X and it does NOT have the same issue as far as I can tell. Yes, probably unfair to compare X to S, but still. This also was not an issue for me for the first few months after I took delivery. So I'm still not convinced that my particular issue has been satisfied. If Tesla comes back next week and tells me that it's 100% normal then I will shut up.
Otherwise all of you naysayers must eat crow
You can eliminate the noise (except when Supercharging) by starting the A/C with the temperature high (27 or so). This will still feel cooler than outside, and you dial it down as the cabin cools.Mine is at the SC right now for dual chargers, steering rack creak and to check out my AC noise as well. I suspect they will tell me its normal. This is my first summer with the Model S and it gets pretty hot down here in Texas, so maybe it really is "normal." Its pretty embarrassing when my "silent" car makes a whole ton of noise when its hot outside...
I try to avoid the embarrassment of loud AC noise, so I leave my AC off until I reach to major street when there is other cars around. The tire noise will cover most of the AC noise.
So I guess it's my turn to eat crow - got my car back from Tesla on Friday and they are saying that everything related to my AC noise complaints is totally normal and within design tolerances. So go ahead and dish it out...BUT that doesn't mean that I've changed my stance on the matter. I'll agree that it is what it is. It was engineered that way - fine. But "what it is" is still quite annoying and could use a lot of refinement IMO. So perhaps they were just going through the motions with the hope of shutting me up. They did fix a number of other rattles and squeaks while it was in the shop so that was much appreciated.
I'll let it go, but it's still frustrating. Our second car is a 2015 Yukon Denali which from the outside, is as loud as one would expect a 6.2L V8 engine to be. But from the inside it is SIGNIFICANTLY quieter with AC at full blast both at a standstill and at full highway speeds. No vibrations or anything like that from the AC system. Just the noise of air coming out of the vents. Quieter all the way around actually, meaning the combination of engine noise + AC noise is quieter than my Tesla with just the AC on high. Totally different cars, I get it - but despite the massive/loud engine and all the AC wizardry needed to cool a much larger cabin, our Yukon is much, MUCH quieter than my Tesla in the cabin. It does have active noise canceling technology in the cabin, so that probably has a lot to do with it (maybe something Tesla could benefit from).
Anyways...moving on.