Seems to me that when I get into a blazing hot car that's been sitting out in the sun, the climate control takes it's sweet time bringing the coolness. Even with the temp on 69 and the interior in the 90's, the fan stays on medium for what seems to be a long time if you're burning up. When it does kick up, the air is slow to grow cold. I end up turning off auto and bumping up the fan manually for a quicker response. Anyone else notice this? If this is widespread, I hope Tesla has an update coming.
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Climate control sluggish on auto
- Thread starter Iron
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- hvac hvac issues
Mateo83
Active Member
I always try to use the phone app to start the AC a few minutes before I will be returning the car. It works very well and uses very little battery. The heat pump system in my Model YLR is certainly slower to start cooling than the conventional system in Model 3. But with a 5-minute head start the car cools off nicely.
On the fan speed, for some reason, it seems to default to fan medium on auto, but if you open the control screen you can increase the fan speed to HI. It seems that the setting acts as a limit on the fan, in the auto. So the fan will go high but then revert to slower operation when the system needs less cooling.
On the fan speed, for some reason, it seems to default to fan medium on auto, but if you open the control screen you can increase the fan speed to HI. It seems that the setting acts as a limit on the fan, in the auto. So the fan will go high but then revert to slower operation when the system needs less cooling.
The Tesla Model Y's Climate Control Auto setting are programmed for best efficiency.
In warm weather where the cabin temperature is above 90F while parked I always precondition for ~5 minutes via the Tesla app before opening, getting into my Model Y. My standard temperature setting (driver only) is 69F or 70F.
When the outside air temperature is 90F or warmer I will turn on Recirculate Cabin Air once I get inside the Model Y. (You can use the voice commands "Recirculate" and "Fresh Air" to control this function in addition to the button on the Climate Control settings screen.)
As @Waltjo noted, in the Auto setting the fan speed choices are Lo/Med/Hi; these are fan speed limits, not the actual fan speed. In Manual the fan speed control operates conventionally and you can set the fan speed from 1 to 10. Make sure that in Auto the fan speed is set to Med or Hi.
In warm weather where the cabin temperature is above 90F while parked I always precondition for ~5 minutes via the Tesla app before opening, getting into my Model Y. My standard temperature setting (driver only) is 69F or 70F.
When the outside air temperature is 90F or warmer I will turn on Recirculate Cabin Air once I get inside the Model Y. (You can use the voice commands "Recirculate" and "Fresh Air" to control this function in addition to the button on the Climate Control settings screen.)
As @Waltjo noted, in the Auto setting the fan speed choices are Lo/Med/Hi; these are fan speed limits, not the actual fan speed. In Manual the fan speed control operates conventionally and you can set the fan speed from 1 to 10. Make sure that in Auto the fan speed is set to Med or Hi.
I find the "Auto" setting is better than any manual setting. I don't think it is sluggish at all. My only complaint is that the fan "Lo" setting is not low enough that I have to raise the temperate to 76 degrees to slow down the fan speed.
I understand that I can precondition with the app. You would think that when the temp is set to something like 69F and the inside temp is nearly a 100, the system would kick into high immediately. As with past cars, I drive for a min with the windows down to release the hot air and hit auto, which should blast the cool air. Instead, the air comes on as if it's already cool and it's just trying to maintain the temp....then a while later it starts blowing harder.
Brian-MS90D
Member
You bought an awesome EV. Take advantage of one of the best features and precool that cabin so it's nice and fresh when you jump in it! Nothing worse than hot seats toasting your body through conduction 
I don't disagree but tell me, is your auto climate control sluggish to initially react to extreme temps or not?You bought an awesome EV. Take advantage of one of the best features and precool that cabin so it's nice and fresh when you jump in it! Nothing worse than hot seats toasting your body through conduction
Brian-MS90D
Member
When you turn the system on there will be a small message above the temp display saying "system cooling down." The performance of the climate system is degraded during this time as it "spools up" (my technical term!) behind the scenes. This takes about... 1 to 2 minutes typically in my experience.
Climate control systems in ICE vehicles need similar time to get going, but admittedly may get there half a minute quicker or so.
I would emphasize again that in my opinion it's irrelevant. If you don't precool the car, then it doesn't matter how quick or powerful your climate control system is. The ambient heat trapped in all of the interior materials is literally baking you like an oven for the first 10 minutes. Precool the car! It's a dream! Even nicer ICE vehicles have this feature for the same reason (just don't use it when parked inside).
If you change your practice to precool, then the climate control system doesn't need to be blasting so loud you can't even talk on the phone. Everything is comfortable and quiet from the first moment you arrive inside the cabin.
I keep my Cabin overheat protection at 90 degrees and still pre-cool...it's basically off by the time I get in.
Not the ICE cars I've owned. As an example, the wife's BMW has a Max AC button and it turns cold quick! She is the main one complaining how long the Y takes to cool down. Fact is, I can get the Y to cool off faster if I manually set the controls, so that tells me it's a programming issue with the auto setting.
Brian-MS90D
Member
I still stand by my point that it doesn't matter how quick or powerful the AC is if you get into a 130F car in the middle of the summer. The seats and interior will bake you for about 10 minutes. A BMW probably has cooled seats, which would help.
I agree that I typically set the Tesla Auto temp a point or two lower than most other cars. Nicer interior luxury cars such as BMW, Volvo, and many more will also have interior IR sensors to better detect actual interior temperature. Tesla does not utilize these.
Her BMW does not have cooled seats and the material is a synthetic leather similar to Tesla. All car interiors bake. All the more reason to spool up Auto fast. Climate control shows interior and exterior temps right there, so sensors knows the temp. So, if set temp is 68F and Interior is 110F, it should know to max out the fan and compressor quickly. Instead, it starts off with a weak airflow and barely cool air and half an hour later it goes high. (I'm exaggerating of course)
Thanks for your responses, BTW.
Brian-MS90D
Member
All interior cars bake, yes. That is why you should precool them!
Make your life joyous. Yes, you are correct that Tesla has an interior temperature sensor (or possibly a few located throughout). However, what I meant was that nicer luxury interior vehicles do not use those simple temperature sensors. They use IR sensors that read passenger body surfaces and seat surfaces to get a more accurate measurement of what the real temperature is at various locations. For example, if the sun is shining in on one side of the car and not the other. Tesla does not have these more sophisticated and expensive sensors. Therefore, Tesla's Auto AC is not quite as accurate in all conditions as lots of cars in the $50k+ price range that use interior IR sensors.
If it's taking 30 minutes to get going that is very wrong. You need service.
This is entirely related to having a car with a heat pump driving the AC vs a compressor that is engine driven. That heat pump is super efficient but like your battery precon in the winter, it must start from somewhere. In winter scavenge for a tiny bit of heat to multiply over and over again, and in the summer start the reaction of cooling so that too can multiply. You see the weakness of a system in its extreme. Setting the app ahead is one way to help sure, but you also need to come to terms with why it's not like your other cars. They do have electric compressors. Just not in any aggressive setup to conserve juice.
Going back, my old R12 cars (before they banned them) were so much colder than any new ICE car built today sans the wrangler. I'm sure that one day some manu will make heat pumps instant cool with a part. Then, Tesla will enable it the same via some software that uses AI to know when you'll likely get back to the car.
Going back, my old R12 cars (before they banned them) were so much colder than any new ICE car built today sans the wrangler. I'm sure that one day some manu will make heat pumps instant cool with a part. Then, Tesla will enable it the same via some software that uses AI to know when you'll likely get back to the car.
mackgriggs
Member
This. I'm always in auto, but I like how tesla added this feature where you can still change the underlying fan speed a bit if you want a bit more air.
An AC and a heat pump are essentially the same in cooling mode; it’s heating mode where ICE vehicles can use the heat generated by the engine, as opposed to the thermal effects of expansion and contraction, where they have an advantage.
I assume the system is designed to start blowing only after the air in the system has cooled to an acceptable temp. Otherwise you basically get a hair dryer blowing hot air in your face in an already blazing vehicle.
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