Beware, don't cook your dog (or kids)

[Cosmacelf]

When the Model X is either parked or driving, the rear air conditioning (which is third row seat vents and second door door vents) does not turn on unless there is someone sitting in one of the second row seats.

Since I routinely carry my dog in the hatchback area with the third row seats flipped down, this came as quite the rude shock when I accidentally discovered this today. No wonder my dog doesn't want to ride there, she was being cooked with only the little amount of air coming from the front vents not even reaching her.

I've just asked Tesla if there is some way to force the rear HVAC to stay on.

I'm quite pissed off about this, this is a real safety hazard in hot sunny climates.

 

[jeffro01]

I'll play devils advocate here. How is this a "real safety hazard"? What other cars allow you to walk away and leave the AC on indefinitely without the car running?

Jeff

 

[Electroman]

Please read the first line - parked or driving

 

[jeffro01]

Please read the first line - parked or driving

Ah... Oops...

To be fair since I was playing devils advocate, I personally think this is ridiculous and should be completely controllable by the owner of the car...

Jeff

 

[Cosmacelf]

Regardless, it is very unexpected and undocumented behaviour. Tesla replied to my email saying that the Model X does not have second row seat occupancy sensors! I triple checked right now, the AC blows in the rear when parked and you are sitting in the second row, but the moment you lift your butt off the second row, the rear AC turns off. So either I have a unique build that Tesla doesn't know about, or their service people need a better service manual.

Can other Model X owners try this to see if their rear AC turns on or not depending if someone is sitting in the rear? The easy check is from the driver seat, just feel behind you for the second row door vent (not the center console vent) while AC is blowing hard (set it all automatic and set temp to 64 or LO or something). That rear vent should blow hard if it is on.

 

[CaliX]

That is a problem as my kids like sitting in the 3rd row with no one in the second row.

 

[CHG-ON]

Does the second row seat belt activate it?

 

[Cosmacelf]

Good idea. I'll try it in a bit...

 

[RDoc]

And make sure your dog always wears his seatbelt!

 

[ohmman]

If not, and this is a bizarre workaround, you can strap something heavy into one of the second row seats. I know some MS owners used to do that to keep the air running for the passenger a while back. Anything that's enough to make the sensor think it's occupied. But yeah.. that's until it's fixed with software.

 

[Aljohn]

Odd... someone please validate. On the Tesla forum, the same issue. However, in that forum the car was PARKED. Driving was not an issue mention there. May also want to check whether X is in range mode, which I understand limits the air handling.

 

[Cosmacelf]

That was me on the Tesla forum, so same report. The same issue occurs whether the car is parked or in drive.

I found a work around. From the main screen, press the rear HVAC button and at the top of that sub panel that pops up turn off and then on the rear HVAC. That gets the rear HVAC working.

FWIW I am on 7.1 (2.13.120). Apparently there is newer firmware available, maybe this issue will get fixed in that release.

 

[Aljohn]

Glad to hear... so a non-issue??

 

[darthvdr]

This is not a bad issue at all. If you compare it to the Model S, they still do not have any rear AC for the jumpseats in the hatch area. Now that is a serious hazard.

 

[Cosmacelf]

Not a non issue, it is a bug, and if you aren't aware of it, you can cook dogs and nonverbal kids in the back. While it may be cold in the northeast, it was 95 and sunny where I was today.

 

[Blastphemy]

My issue is that if I park the car and run into the store while my wife and children are in the car, they're going to cook if it's a hot day because there's no easy way to leave the car running with the A/C on once I've left with the key. Supposedly the Tesla app will allow one to turn on the A/C for a short amount of time after leaving the car (hopefully long enough to keep everyone cool if I get stuck in a slow check-out line!), but that's an unnecessary step in what should be a simple solution. Occam's razor, right?!

 

[satheesh.net]

A maybe workaround could be that you could set it in neutral and manually put on the parking break from the center console? Will it work then? Or do someone/something has to be in the seat?

 

[Cyclone]

My issue is that if I park the car and run into the store while my wife and children are in the car, they're going to cook if it's a hot day because there's no easy way to leave the car running with the A/C on once I've left with the key. Supposedly the Tesla app will allow one to turn on the A/C for a short amount of time after leaving the car (hopefully long enough to keep everyone cool if I get stuck in a slow check-out line!), but that's an unnecessary step in what should be a simple solution. Occam's razor, right?!

On the S, the "tricks" are to either have the passenger tap the screens within the first 10 seconds of the door closing, using the app, putting it in neutral and using the emergency brake to hold he vehicle position, or simply hit the brake after getting out of the seat but before closing the door. Try these on the X. Hopefully they work for you.

 

[dwebb66]

You can also get a hear rejecting film applied to your windows, it could be a very light tint, but it would reject nearly all of the heat during a quick run into a store.

 

[PeterK]

On the S, the "tricks" are to either have the passenger tap the screens within the first 10 seconds of the door closing, using the app, putting it in neutral and using the emergency brake to hold he vehicle position, or simply hit the brake after getting out of the seat but before closing the door. Try these on the X. Hopefully they work for you.

Another that keeps the radio on, and keeps the heat running (not sure about AC as I have only done this in winter, after pulling car out of garage when I run into the house to get my daughter), is to partially shut the driver's door so that the latch is caught but the door edge sticks out about a centimeter or less.

But with automatic front doors on the X, that might not work...

Getting back to the original topic, I'm glad to see there is an option to force the rear AC on.