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Cabin overheat protection

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Is there any way to increase the temp it keeps the cabin? My car used a whopping 14% of it's battery (~43 miles) to keep the cabin close to 98 degrees F today. I'm debating just turning this feature off while it's really hot outside.

What do you guys think about letting the interior sit at 140+ for hours on end? I'm wondering if it's worth the trade off of battery usage and wear and tear on the HVAC system.
 
You could put up a windshield cover and crack your windows to keep the temps closer to ambient and disable the cabin overheat option. That might be a good trade-off from 140 degrees vs 14% battery drain.

Maybe they will eventually have an option that just runs the fans to circulate the hot air out of the car vs firing up the HVAC.
 
Use the “No A/C” option in the Cabin Overheat Protction settings. It won’t keep the cabin quite at/below 40 C, but it barely uses any battery power to run the circulation fan at low power. I let it run one day in the default mode before changing the option to only use the circulation fan after seeing results like you.
 
I suspect that every other car in Arizona is heating up just as much. From what I've heard, the intended function of the cooling function is if you have left someone in the car. So if you are sure that you haven't left anyone, turn it off.
 
I suspect that every other car in Arizona is heating up just as much. From what I've heard, the intended function of the cooling function is if you have left someone in the car. So if you are sure that you haven't left anyone, turn it off.
The Houston SC said it’s to protect the tablet. Like any computer I wouldn’t want it at 140 degrees. Unless I have a range issue, which I don’t on a normal day, I leave it on to do its job. My loss is about 25 miles on a really hot day and I’m ok with that. I do use a sunshade and tinted the windows 35 and front windshield 75.
 
The Houston SC said it’s to protect the tablet. Like any computer I wouldn’t want it at 140 degrees. Unless I have a range issue, which I don’t on a normal day, I leave it on to do its job. My loss is about 25 miles on a really hot day and I’m ok with that. I do use a sunshade and tinted the windows 35 and front windshield 75.

Yeah, so I think this is lame. I have never once been concerned with any of my other cars overheating. I would expect Tesla to make a car that does not drain energy just to protect the car. I find that unacceptable if that is indeed the issue.

I do want a definitive answer from Tesla on why they created this feature. I have heard people say it is so you don't kill kids accidentally left in the car, or that it is to protect the car, or that it is for the comfort of occupants that return to the vehicle without pre-cooling it.

I really don't know which of these the feature was developed for (perhaps multiple?).
 
Yeah, so I think this is lame. I have never once been concerned with any of my other cars overheating. I would expect Tesla to make a car that does not drain energy just to protect the car. I find that unacceptable if that is indeed the issue.

I do want a definitive answer from Tesla on why they created this feature. I have heard people say it is so you don't kill kids accidentally left in the car, or that it is to protect the car, or that it is for the comfort of occupants that return to the vehicle without pre-cooling it.

I really don't know which of these the feature was developed for (perhaps multiple?).

Electronics don’t do well in heat. A cell phone screen melts. PLC boards fritz- this is why switchboards with PLC boards are in climate controlled rooms, nothing to do with the people. We bought cars we know are predominately electronic. Side benefit you can come back to a cool car or you can safely leave Fido locked in while you run in for a bagel. I was losing 25 miles a day and was concerned until I really understood what was going on and why. I certainly knew the car was dependent on the tablet. I’m glad there’s a feature that protects it in the Texas heat. But you can turn it off or turn only the fan on. What’s the big deal?
 
Just tried it this summer for the first time. But I noticed that the tilt-alarm keeps switching back on, which then disables the overheat protection (do you know why?). I have found no way to keep the overheat protection on permanently. Do you have to switch it back on every time you park the car?
 
Yeah, so I think this is lame. I have never once been concerned with any of my other cars overheating. I would expect Tesla to make a car that does not drain energy just to protect the car. I find that unacceptable if that is indeed the issue.

I do want a definitive answer from Tesla on why they created this feature. I have heard people say it is so you don't kill kids accidentally left in the car, or that it is to protect the car, or that it is for the comfort of occupants that return to the vehicle without pre-cooling it.

I really don't know which of these the feature was developed for (perhaps multiple?).
Tesla has definitively stated its to keep children safe who may have been forgotten in the car. It’s still on their website.
 
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Use the “No A/C” option in the Cabin Overheat Protction settings.
Turning the no A/C setting on makes a huge difference.
I have a question for some of you who may have experience with multiple Tesla models. I remember when they deployed this feature, and then they updated with the two choices of the full (with A/C) or the no A/C version. I have checked my old 2014 Model S, and it only has cabin overheat protection as either ON or OFF. There is no fan-only option. Was it only the Model 3 that gets that option? Or do the newer post 2016 refresh X and S get it or something?
 
It's been about a year since I made this post so I figured I'd make an update.

Car facts:

* 2018 Model 3 LR
* 20% PhotoSync tint on all vertical windows, 75% PhotoSync on windshield and back glass
* Still using cabin overheat with no A/C, temps hover in the 125-135 F range with the windows cracked. It'll climb over 140 with them closed. I've seen as high as 178 F (as reported by the car) with no cabin overheat on so it's making a difference.
* Using cabin overheat WITH A/C burns even more battery than I originally reported during really hot and sunny days. As much as 20% battery for one work day.
 
It's been about a year since I made this post so I figured I'd make an update.

Car facts:

* 2018 Model 3 LR
* 20% PhotoSync tint on all vertical windows, 75% PhotoSync on windshield and back glass
* Still using cabin overheat with no A/C, temps hover in the 125-135 F range with the windows cracked. It'll climb over 140 with them closed. I've seen as high as 178 F (as reported by the car) with no cabin overheat on so it's making a difference.
* Using cabin overheat WITH A/C burns even more battery than I originally reported during really hot and sunny days. As much as 20% battery for one work day.

Good update. What’s the drain using fan only? Still 1-2% vs 20%?
 
It's been hovering in the 90s to a bit over 100F where I work for the first time since I got my LR RWD Model 3. On the hottest day so far, when I got to work at 8:30am it was already around 80F and it peaked at about 105F during the day. When I left work at around 6pm, it was still in the low 90s. I had cabin overheat protection with A/C on and I noticed somewhere around 18 miles drained, which translates to about 6% in my case.

I have 20% F1 pinnacle ceramic tint on my rear windows and rear panoramic. 50% on the front windows. No tint on the front panoramic and no tint on the front windshield, but I do use a HeatShield sunshield. I also had 2 windows cracked just a little bit. Also, I have the black premium interior. Also, there is absolutely no shade where I park.

That was the worst day. When it peaks in the 80s, I noticed around 8-12 miles drained. When it peaks in the 90s, I noticed around 14-16 miles drained, so it seems to be pretty linear with temperature in my case.

Overall, if you can spare the range, I definitely recommend leaving cabin overheat on with the A/C. Even on those scorching hot days, it was relatively pleasant to get into my Model 3 with the cabin hovering around 100F, especially compared to my old car where I could barely touch the steering wheel when it got real hot. One drawback though is the vinegary A/C related smell when I get into the car, but it goes away after a few minutes with the fan on. I heard they may fix this in an upcoming firmware update.
 
Not definitive, but some support for the theory that overheat protection is for the screen: Tesla's Screen Saga Shows Why Automotive Grade Matters

Apparently “automotive grade” screens are designed to withstand high heat, but there are no automotive grade suppliers for screens as large as Tesla wanted. So they used a non-automotive grade screen and use overheat protection to avoid problems. This would also explain why other car companies have been so slow to ship larger screens on their cars.
 
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If is supposed to keep it at 104!

The temp on Cabin Overheat Protection will vary. I’ve seen our Model S run the temp down to the upper 90s when the AC kicked in and cooled the car, to then slowly or on super hot 100 days climb more rapidly until it reached 104F-105F and then start the cool down loop all over again.

It will be interesting to see what owners of other EVs that are trying to compete with similar Tesla features experience. I think we have already seen Porsche acknowledge the efforts that Tesla has made to advance EV and seen other manufacturers experience production problems, part issues, safety recall issues, etc. Not as easy as it seems and given Tesla didn’t have the resources and funding of these large companies all the more worthy of recognition and praise. Keeping electronics healthy will always be a top priority. Battery health up there before electronics maybe although electronics could go before the battery. Pushing the charge rate upwards past 250kW I have to wonder if it will backfire on some of these manufacturers and owners of those cars. Tesla has always taken a more measured approach. Tesla’s challengers are looking to fast charge as a way to best Tesla since they are way behind in all areas of development and need to give potential buyers a reason to look to them. Should be an interest few years.
 
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The temp on Cabin Overheat Protection will vary. I’ve seen our Model S run the temp down to the upper 90s when the AC kicked in and cooled the car, to then slowly or on super hot 100 days climb more rapidly until it reached 104F-105F and then start the cool down loop all over again.
I believe this is the normal behavior of the hysteresis for any HVAC system out there. Even you set your home A/C to say 78F, for example, it may not stop until it reaches 77F and it won't turn on until 79F. This is to prevent the A/C from turning on and off too quickly in succession.

The reason the temperature swing of the hysteresis for Cabin Overheat is much larger, like 5+ degrees, is because out in the baking sun, the small cabin can change temperature REALLY fast, which wouldn't help the A/C from turning on and off too quickly if it the hysteresis was say only 1 or 2 degrees.
 
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