Climate control doesn't work properly

[FS_Ottawa]

Hey,

Attached is a picture of the condition of the state of the car after about 1hr of driving. Is it normal for the climate control to never achieve the desired temperature?

The climate control is pretty much useless since it never really cools down the car. At 19.5, the car should be way too cold.

Anyone have any thoughts? Is this normal, or is my car needs service?

 

[Kalud]

Just in case, maybe HVAC "range mode" is enabled ? If so, it limits the fan speed and AC power.

 

[ThosEM]

Range mode could be an issue, plus, I've wondered if the interior temperature is measured at the same place it is sensed by the climate system. There can be wild temp differences between sunlit and shadowed parts of a car interior, and a choice has to be made what to sense as representative.

 

[Todd Burch]

Another possible issue: Is the auto mode set off on the car? I believe if you turn on/off the HVAC (or perhaps adjust the temperature) the car will be set to auto.

For instance, it's possible that your fan speed is set to "3" instead of auto...and it just can't cool the car fast enough at 3.

For what it's worth, my car has absolutely no issues achieving and holding temperatures in any temperature range.

 

[islandbayy]

Range mode is not the issue. Example, 85*F yesterday, I had the car set for LOW, auto turned off though. We were freezing our butts off (and I LIKE it COLD) within about 15 minutes. My car is 1 year old as of today and 30,000 miles. Possibly low on refrigerant.

 

[mknox]

Personally, I have found the relationship between actual temperature and what the car reports to be pretty poor. I think newer cars with the internal temperature sensor aspirator may be better. I have to keep mine at 67 F to "feel" like my other cars felt with it set to 72 F (summer and winter).

 

[Electricfan]

I notice the same thing with my car, although I'm going to pay closer attention and see if the difference between setting and actual is as far off as yours. Lately it is getting hotter in Houston, and I find myself putting the AC on manual to cool the car off. I just went and checked and I don't have Range Mode on, so that's not it. And my AC is set to "Auto", unless I get desperate and put it in manual to cool off, which does happen alot when outside temps get in the 90's.

 

[mknox]

I just went and checked and I don't have Range Mode on, so that's not it. And my AC is set to "Auto", unless I get desperate and put it in manual to cool off, which does happen alot when outside temps get in the 90's.

I don't thing Range Mode is a factor, other than how long it may take to actually cool down a boiling hot car. We get some pretty hot and humid conditions here in Southern Ontario summers, and I had mine set to Range Mode all last summer. I wish the fan would go faster in Range, but other than that, the temperature setpoint seemed to behave the same way in either mode. My main reason for Range Mode is that otherwise the a/c compressor is embarrassingly loud.

 

[markb1]

Personally, I have found the relationship between actual temperature and what the car reports to be pretty poor. I think newer cars with the internal temperature sensor aspirator may be better. I have to keep mine at 67 F to "feel" like my other cars felt with it set to 72 F (summer and winter).

I've noticed the same problem with the temperature sensor. I wonder if Tesla will retrofit the aspirator?

 

[FS_Ottawa]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Range mode is off.

I've played with many combinations of settings and the only way to get the car to a comfortable temperature is to turn off auto and manually set the fan and, sometimes, set the temperature to low. This basically means the auto climate control is useless... it's just a pretty interface for a system that's no better than the manual knobs on the roadster.

I've also noticed that if I change from 18 to 17.5, then the system goes nuts trying cool the car down to freezing temps as if 17.5 is some magical number. Also, if the outside temp is very high, then the system does a better job cooling down the car to the desired temperature (i.e. somehow temp difference between outside and inside impacts how the climate control operates). I think the software is just messed up and tries to think too much - some software designer probably had too much time to play with too many irrelevant parameters.

 

[Electricfan]

On my drive home today I paid extra attention to how my AC worked. I got the same result you did - I showed 81 degrees F in the car with the climate set to control to 71 degrees, after driving for 30 minutes. When I first got in the car the AC ran full blast, but then it tapered off and the car temp stayed too warm (81 degrees). This sure seems like a prime candidate for one of tesla's software upgrades.

 

[mknox]

I've noticed the same problem with the temperature sensor. I wonder if Tesla will retrofit the aspirator?

I doubt it. I heard somewhere the original (concealed) sensor is somewhere on the dash near the steering column, but the new setup is on the center console above the power and USB outlets (looks like a dime-sized speaker opening).

 

[FS_Ottawa]

On my drive home today I paid extra attention to how my AC worked. I got the same result you did - I showed 81 degrees F in the car with the climate set to control to 71 degrees, after driving for 30 minutes. When I first got in the car the AC ran full blast, but then it tapered off and the car temp stayed too warm (81 degrees). This sure seems like a prime candidate for one of tesla's software upgrades.

Thanks for confirming my observations are not unique to my car.