Camping and running climate controls after newest updates

[Deeppurple]

We are going again on a cross country trip with my 7-year old and we usually camp/sleep in our model S a lot since it is such a perfect combination of destination charging, enjoying the outdoors, while saving a few bucks to be later spent on "greener" hotels like Indigo in Athens, GA (with Tesla chargers).
I am aware of the existing options to run the climate controls by placing the weight in the driver seat. I usually have difficult time finding anything heavy enough as we tend to travel light. Any fresh suggestions out there?

 

[S'toon]

Apparently the Remote S App has a camper mode function. KMan posted a video about it.

 

[Todd Burch]

I could be wrong as I don't do this, but instead of putting the car in park, can't you go to the E-Brake page to apply the parking brake? As I recall, this leaves the car in neutral but applies the parking brake, effectively leaving the car "on".

 

[EMdoc12]

I could be wrong as I don't do this, but instead of putting the car in park, can't you go to the E-Brake page to apply the parking brake? As I recall, this leaves the car in neutral but applies the parking brake, effectively leaving the car "on".

Yes but you can't charge like that. The car must be in park to charge. So if you were on a trip somewhere and found yourself sleeping in your car in a campground or RV park that had charging capabilities you wouldn't be able to do both at once that way.

 

[CHG-ON]

I believe RemoteS is the best way to go. A fantastic app. Bjorn has a video on camper mode before RemoteS came out. You might want to check that out too.

I haven't had the opportunity to camp out, except in my garage because I'm a loooooser. Though it's been a long time since I did it. I think I may grown back into an adult after a year and a half.

 

[Edmond]

I haven't had the opportunity to camp out, except in my garage because I'm a loooooser. Though it's been a long time since I did it. I think I may grown back into an adult after a year and a half.

She threw you out, huh?

 

[CHG-ON]

Ha! If I had her, she certainly would have!!! I'm intolerable when it comes to my Miss.

 

[green1]

I am aware of the existing options to run the climate controls by placing the weight in the driver seat. I usually have difficult time finding anything heavy enough as we tend to travel light. Any fresh suggestions out there?

It appears that you are NOT aware of the existing options, as a weight on the seat has NEVER worked for this purpose.
There are only 2 ways to keep the climate control on longer than half an hour, and both have their drawbacks.
1) put the vehicle in neutral, and engage the parking brake from the controls on the 17" screen.
- drawback: can't charge while doing this, and if you're in a jurisdiction with mandatory daytime running lights, they stay on the whole time
2) use a 3rd party app to re-engage climate control automatically every 30 minutes
- drawback: requires cellular service for the car, and an internet connection for whatever device is running the app, is also finicky and error prone.

Generally 2 is the lesser of two evils, but it requires something like remote S, which requires an iphone, which the majority of people do not own, or visible Tesla, or some scripting knowledge, both of which require a computer to be powered on and connected to the internet the whole time.

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

Hopefully the new baby/puppy safety mode works while it's charging.

 

[Tree95]

Hopefully the new baby/puppy safety mode works while it's charging.

Yes, it seems to. I had my S parked outdoors while I was working in the garage. It was plugged in (although not charging as it was already charged to the set limit). Every few minutes, I could hear the contactors on my HPWC click as the car's A/C turned on and started to draw power. I walked out to the car once to check, and the AC was on.

I suppose this doesn't exactly match your "while it's charging" condition, but I'd be shocked if the new mode works while not plugged in, plugged in but either charged or waiting for a timed charge, but no while the car is actually charging.

 

[jkennebeck]

It appears that you are NOT aware of the existing options, as a weight on the seat has NEVER worked for this purpose.
There are only 2 ways to keep the climate control on longer than half an hour, and both have their drawbacks.
1) put the vehicle in neutral, and engage the parking brake from the controls on the 17" screen.
- drawback: can't charge while doing this, and if you're in a jurisdiction with mandatory daytime running lights, they stay on the whole time
2) use a 3rd party app to re-engage climate control automatically every 30 minutes
- drawback: requires cellular service for the car, and an internet connection for whatever device is running the app, is also finicky and error prone.

Generally 2 is the lesser of two evils, but it requires something like remote S, which requires an iphone, which the majority of people do not own, or visible Tesla, or some scripting knowledge, both of which require a computer to be powered on and connected to the internet the whole time.

Another drawback to #2 is that if you want to pump air into one of those hatchback tents the App/API's will fail after the first 30 min cycle that the hatch is open. What's odd is that if you used ANY other door it would stay on. But the hatch, tesla decided to exclude. Not sure why, kind of stupid. You'll loose the cool/hot air either way if a door is open.

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

If you sleep in your car, with the fob, and you lock the doors from the touch screen does this keep your car locked even though the fob is in the car?

 

[jkennebeck]

Another drawback to #2 is that if you want to pump air into one of those hatchback tents the App/API's will fail after the first 30 min cycle that the hatch is open. What's odd is that if you used ANY other door it would stay on. But the hatch, tesla decided to exclude. Not sure why, kind of stupid. You'll loose the cool/hot air either way if a door is open.

Just found a solution for this:

Model S Camping mode, Plugged in, Hatch open, Tent filling with A/C!!!

 

[Black/Black MS]

My low tech solution is to just get the car to a comfortable temperature and go to sleep. On the off chance that the temp gets uncomfortable enough in the middle of the night to wake me up, I turn on the climate control again from my cell phone app and go back to sleep which will get me through to the morning. Never felt like another solution was necessary, but I've never tried camping in the car in extreme hot or cold conditions.

 

[Muzzman1]

There's also this:
Sleeping in Tesla Car - Tesla Camper Mode Hack using USB Device

I bought the device "mouse jiggler" but have yet to actually put it on the car and give it a shot. I will report back at some point....

 

[GarrickS]

There's also this:
Sleeping in Tesla Car - Tesla Camper Mode Hack using USB Device

I bought the device "mouse jiggler" but have yet to actually put it on the car and give it a shot. I will report back at some point....

Doesn't work for me at all. I programmed the jiggler, plugged it into the usb port, and it does nothing. The car still goes to sleep as soon as you walk away.

Then I plugged in a regular mouse and found that a click will "wake" up the mouse feature. Now you can see a fuzzy mouse pointer. Now you can see that the jiggler is actually jiggling the mouse pointer. Unfortunately the car still goes to sleep as soon as you walk away.

 

[dknisely]

I believe RemoteS is the best way to go. A fantastic app. Bjorn has a video on camper mode before RemoteS came out. You might want to check that out too.

I haven't had the opportunity to camp out, except in my garage because I'm a loooooser. Though it's been a long time since I did it. I think I may grown back into an adult after a year and a half.

Remote S can't work unless both the car and the phone have cellular data coverage, right? That rules out a lot of camp sites.

 

[hpartsch]

Weren't we supposed to eventually get an official camper mode from Tesla via a software update? I am not sure if I dreamed this up or actually read it from awhile back?

 

[CHG-ON]

Remote S can't work unless both the car and the phone have cellular data coverage, right? That rules out a lot of camp sites.

True. A big limitation. Bluetooth would be the answer.

 

[dknisely]

True. A big limitation. Bluetooth would be the answer.

Of course, I realized that both the car and phone could be online via WiFi in a lot of campgrounds where you're likely to be charging, but not in many remote campsites (but you wouldn't be charging there). So maybe it isn't a big issue.