Car heating up when parked upwards of 90 degrees farenheit

[GolanB]

When you removed the Tesla App, did you completely delete it from your iPhone, or invalidate the login? If you haven't entirely removed it before relinking it with your Tesla account, I would highly recommend doing that. This way there will be no question of Application or cache corruption.

If you believe the climate control is kicking on while you're not in the car, why don't you set up a mobile device, connect it to a power source (not your car) and record video and audio? You could even live-stream it, and listen for fans and the presence of airflow originating from the dash or rear center console.

If the API is not informing the Tesla App of climate control activation, then it may not notify a third-party API poll either. Sometimes the most direct way of getting to an answer is a simple test like the one above.

This is one of the more bizarre posts I've seen in a while.

 

[dkde]

App completely deleted. Prior timesthat I deleted it I changed my password as well. Hoping tomorrow is sunnier to see how it does with no app and sunnier weather.

 

[is2scooby]

How about putting a streamer in one of the vents and setting up a GoPro and have it record while you're not in the car to see if it captures the heater/blower running? I wonder if the blower strength would be high enough to move a paper streamer and/or for the GoPro mic to pick up.

 

[jat255]

Small update from last night's experiment. I left both sentry mode and climate protection off, and the same bi-hourly temperature peaking behavior happened overnight:

Since we're a mixed Android/iPhone family, I'll try logging out/uninstalling all iPhone versions of the app to see if that makes a difference. Stay tuned for further update...

 

[StellarRat]

No chance that anyone else has your car on their phone? You haven't got a new phone lately and traded or gave away the old one?

 

[dkde]

No chance that anyone else has your car on their phone? You haven't got a new phone lately and traded or gave away the old one?

Me? Nope. Only ever been attached to my phone. Nobody else other than Tesla has driven my car and as mentioned I’ve even changed password multiple times to make sure that any other app that may have been connected no longer could be. Only have used the single iPhone to connect. Have deleted Tesla app again today will look later to see what temp looks like. It’s a sunny day.

 

[jat255]

I'll try logging out/uninstalling all iPhone versions of the app

Does not look like it made a difference, or at least, not yet. 2 hours after parking, I saw a rapid 13 degree increase in temperature:

Now trying removing the Android app as well to see if that makes any difference at 1:00 PM

 

[GolanB]

Small update from last night's experiment. I left both sentry mode and climate protection off, and the same bi-hourly temperature peaking behavior happened overnight:

View attachment 393133

Since we're a mixed Android/iPhone family, I'll try logging out/uninstalling all iPhone versions of the app to see if that makes a difference. Stay tuned for further update...

Since this occurred at night when the sun is not present, it would be interesting to see the same test run when the outdoor temperature is above 60 degrees F.

I'm wondering whether the increase in temperature you are seeing is a function of battery protection on the Model 3 - since there is no battery heater, I believe the car must engage other systems available to it to generate heat and it perhaps part of this heat ends up in the cabin.

I know that when I am charging my car during winter months on a lower power source (110V 12A), part of the energy consumption that would typically be used for charging the batteries gets diverted to generating heat since the charge cycle itself is not quick enough to generate heat on its own.

Was your car plugged in during this time? Do you have different results if you disengage power? I know that if I leave my car plugged in overnight, and the temperature drops, it will heat itself enough so that I don't have the snowflake register appear when I get into the car in the morning.

 

[drj3]

Does not look like it made a difference, or at least, not yet. 2 hours after parking, I saw a rapid 13 degree increase in temperature:

View attachment 393184

Now trying removing the Android app as well to see if that makes any difference at 1:00 PM

Your graph shows the temperature jumping 10 degrees in 1 minute. Your car’s heating system is good, but not that good. It’s not the climate system heating your car, it’s just a fan mixing the air near the temperature sensor. Something just wakes up every 2 hours and mixes the air near the sensor. I don’t think there is any problem.

 

[jat255]

Your car’s heating system is good, but not that good. It’s not the climate system heating your car, it’s just a fan mixing the air near the temperature sensor. Something just wakes up every 2 hours and mixes the air near the sensor.

I thought this might be a possibility, but consider the case from post #84. This is data from the car parked overnight and in a covered (although open to the outside) apartment garage. In this case, I see no physical reason why part of the car's interior air would cool significantly faster than any other, which would be required if the "air mixing" theory was correct. My hypothesis is that there is an additional source of heat coming from somewhere (the three obvious candidates being the climate system heater, the battery, or the motors). The increases in temperature last about 3-4 minutes, which I think would be plenty of time for the climate system to cause that increase in temperature, but at the same time, the API logging does not show any change in the climate system fan, so I don't think that's what's happening (unless the API is lying).

I'm wondering whether the increase in temperature you are seeing is a function of battery protection on the Model 3 - since there is no battery heater, I believe the car must engage other systems available to it to generate heat and it perhaps part of this heat ends up in the cabin.

I was thinking something like this as well, but I'm not certain. Overnight, I see the same sawtooth temperature spikes whether the car is charging, or just parked without being plugged in. I suppose it's possible the battery could have some residual heat that is being vented into the cabin, perhaps? But leaving it overnight is typically long enough to "cold soak" when it is cold outside, so I think the battery temperature would have reached equilibirium with the outside temp by that time, so I'd rule out the battery as the heat source. I remember reading that the motors can be run in a "zero torque" mode that generates heat, so perhaps this is happening for a minute or so as part of some sort of bi-hourly diagnostic process on the motors/battery?

 

[dkde]

I thought this might be a possibility, but consider the case from post #84. This is data from the car parked overnight and in a covered (although open to the outside) apartment garage. In this case, I see no physical reason why part of the car's interior air would cool significantly faster than any other, which would be required if the "air mixing" theory was correct. My hypothesis is that there is an additional source of heat coming from somewhere (the three obvious candidates being the climate system heater, the battery, or the motors). The increases in temperature last about 3-4 minutes, which I think would be plenty of time for the climate system to cause that increase in temperature, but at the same time, the API logging does not show any change in the climate system fan, so I don't think that's what's happening (unless the API is lying).



I was thinking something like this as well, but I'm not certain. Overnight, I see the same sawtooth temperature spikes whether the car is charging, or just parked without being plugged in. I suppose it's possible the battery could have some residual heat that is being vented into the cabin, perhaps? But leaving it overnight is typically long enough to "cold soak" when it is cold outside, so I think the battery temperature would have reached equilibirium with the outside temp by that time, so I'd rule out the battery as the heat source. I remember reading that the motors can be run in a "zero torque" mode that generates heat, so perhaps this is happening for a minute or so as part of some sort of bi-hourly diagnostic process on the motors/battery?

One other source of heat, the heated seats...

 

[nvx1977]

Your graph shows the temperature jumping 10 degrees in 1 minute. Your car’s heating system is good, but not that good. It’s not the climate system heating your car, it’s just a fan mixing the air near the temperature sensor. Something just wakes up every 2 hours and mixes the air near the sensor. I don’t think there is any problem.

I dunno... when I preheat my car, it heats up really fast. Cabin routinely goes from 35F to set temp (72F) within 2 minutes, according to the app.

 

[mswlogo]

Sounds like a big in the software. Hope Tesla address the hvac from kicking on.

There is no software bug from Tesla or Apps turning on the HVAC. If the heat was on, you'd see a huge battery loss.

It's called greenhouse effect.

My tires went up 3 pounds sitting in the sun, is that because there is a firmware bug in the TPMS?

Mine was 105F (equivalent to a very hot day) when the air was 42F, when going inside the car it was very hot inside.
Just like every other black interior car I've owned. An one 1-2 miles lost for the day.

If you want to do a 3rd grade science project, park it in the shade.

Why do you think people scream when they see babies or dogs left in a car. It can climb to 150F in minutes when it's 80F out.
You can burn yourself on the seats. It's how the old Solar Hot Water systems worked.

The only problem here is users have to much information and is why most manufactures DUMB down their cars.
Which you will eventually do.

 

[GolanB]

I thought this might be a possibility, but consider the case from post #84. This is data from the car parked overnight and in a covered (although open to the outside) apartment garage. In this case, I see no physical reason why part of the car's interior air would cool significantly faster than any other, which would be required if the "air mixing" theory was correct. My hypothesis is that there is an additional source of heat coming from somewhere (the three obvious candidates being the climate system heater, the battery, or the motors). The increases in temperature last about 3-4 minutes, which I think would be plenty of time for the climate system to cause that increase in temperature, but at the same time, the API logging does not show any change in the climate system fan, so I don't think that's what's happening (unless the API is lying).



I was thinking something like this as well, but I'm not certain. Overnight, I see the same sawtooth temperature spikes whether the car is charging, or just parked without being plugged in. I suppose it's possible the battery could have some residual heat that is being vented into the cabin, perhaps? But leaving it overnight is typically long enough to "cold soak" when it is cold outside, so I think the battery temperature would have reached equilibirium with the outside temp by that time, so I'd rule out the battery as the heat source. I remember reading that the motors can be run in a "zero torque" mode that generates heat, so perhaps this is happening for a minute or so as part of some sort of bi-hourly diagnostic process on the motors/battery?

I wouldn't think this is residual heat; it would not make sense for the car to vent (dispense with) heat unless it was in an overheat condition. It would make more sense for the vehicle to retain that heat and keep the battery warm for as long as possible.

Your chart clearly shows the car getting to a target temperature, and then dropping - repeatedly and in oscillation. If the heat is really rising and we can trust the sensors, it must be originating from SOMEWHERE. If this is occurring when the sun is not out, the only logical place it could come from would be the HVAC or the drive motors. There is no valid reason for the vehicle to engage those systems while motionless unless it was generating heat.

I know the API's can monitor fan state, and I believe I've seen it on some of your charts, but it wasn't clear to me what the fan state setting was set to, and I don't believe it was plotted either. It is a data point you might want to try and produce. On the other hand, if the car is generating heat to heat the battery, I don't believe the fans would need to run.

 

[mswlogo]

Small update from last night's experiment. I left both sentry mode and climate protection off, and the same bi-hourly temperature peaking behavior happened overnight:

View attachment 393133

Since we're a mixed Android/iPhone family, I'll try logging out/uninstalling all iPhone versions of the app to see if that makes a difference. Stay tuned for further update...

Did you disable cabin overheat as well?

Accurate temperature readings REQUIRES a FAN !!

Temperature/Humidity Sensor with 24-hour Fan-Aspirated Radiation Shield | Davis Instruments

Since running a fan 24/7 is expensive in an EV they run one periodically instead.

Although what doesn't make sense is it's a very long cycle. And it shows that it allows to much inaccuracy with that long a cycle.

The cabin overheat could get away with a fairly long cycle, doesn't need to be that accurate, but that still seems to long a cycle even for that.

So it may be a side affect of some other system that stirs the air up.

One thing that is curious is, which is the more accurate temperature, the basic curve or the top of the peak?

 

[jat255]

It's called greenhouse effect.

I can unequivocally say that this bihourly temperature jump is not a greenhouse effect. Assuming the jump is coming from a mixing of air in the cabin, like you proposed, there is no physical reason that the car would cool at an unequal rate while parked in a covered garage, when it's dark out.

In my case at least, I think it's clear that the heat is being generated somewhere. It's just a question of where.

And I don't think anyone here is saying it's unusual for a car to get hot in the sun very quickly. That's obviously a pretty well known fact, so I'm not sure why you are being so adversarial to people here discussing this. The issue is that the heating appears to be happening faster than it used to be, and in my data, it looks like one source of that is these 5 to 10 degree spikes that are happening regularly every two hours.

 

[jat255]

I know the API's can monitor fan state, and I believe I've seen it on some of your charts, but it wasn't clear to me what the fan state setting was set to, and I don't believe it was plotted eithe

The script I'm using only logs values if they have changed from the previous value, so the fan values only show up while I'm driving (or I suppose if I were to turn on climate from the app, which I haven't done at this point). If it's not in the plot, it's safe to assume that it is at zero, as you'd expect while the car is just sitting parked.

 

[jat255]

One other source of heat, the heated seats...

Good point. No log of those coming on via the API. I turned them on manually and I can see it in my logs, so we'll have to assume that's not the source either (although the system could be not reporting if it's some sort of automatic behavior, same for the HVAC)

 

[super20g]

My car was parked in a dark 50 degree garage over night (no sunlight). Temp was set to 71 in the car. I did not have the pre-conditioning on. When I went to warm the car up in the morning, my app showed it was 90 degrees in the car and had to use the AC to cool it down to 71. I asked my service group about it and they said they looked at the logs but didn't see anything funny that they could tell. As far as I know, it was a fluke.

 

[mswlogo]

I can unequivocally say that this bihourly temperature jump is not a greenhouse effect. Assuming the jump is coming from a mixing of air in the cabin, like you proposed, there is no physical reason that the car would cool at an unequal rate while parked in a covered garage, when it's dark out.

In my case at least, I think it's clear that the heat is being generated somewhere. It's just a question of where.

And I don't think anyone here is saying it's unusual for a car to get hot in the sun very quickly. That's obviously a pretty well known fact, so I'm not sure why you are being so adversarial to people here discussing this. The issue is that the heating appears to be happening faster than it used to be, and in my data, it looks like one source of that is these 5 to 10 degree spikes that are happening regularly every two hours.

There are two discussions going on here and I told you should start a separate thread on your spike issue because your confusing the heck out this thread (Which is my car gets hot when I park it in the sun). Which is total nonsense to begin with.