I find even in California living near the factory the car isn't kept warm enough unless I turn the heat up higher (actually yesterday was the first time I needed the heat since getting the car a couple weeks ago, but definitely found it wasn't heating the car until I turned the temp up). Of course my old Audi wasn't very good either. I've always just turned the temp up if it's too cold and down if it's too warm and ignored the actual stated number.
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I find even in California living near the factory the car isn't kept warm enough unless I turn the heat up higher (actually yesterday was the first time I needed the heat since getting the car a couple weeks ago, but definitely found it wasn't heating the car until I turned the temp up). Of course my old Audi wasn't very good either. I've always just turned the temp up if it's too cold and down if it's too warm and ignored the actual stated number.
I also live in the Bay Area and think that there's a problem.
For one, the interior temperature seems high by 8°F. This isn't a huge deal since I can set the temperature to 80°F, but then I get comments from other passengers about "80°!" and all I can do is explain that my new expensive car can't get a temperature reading correct. The outdoor temperature seems quite believable, but the iPhone app reads 8°F higher when the car has been sitting in the garage overnight with the windows open. Did Tesla hope that we'd use less energy draining heat if they miscalibrated all of the interior sensors by 8°? or maybe Broder would look more the fool for feeling cold with the temperature set in the 70s?
For another, the fan setting on "auto" is way too weak at getting the car to a proper temperature. I'm frequently adjusting the fan speed manually, and I'm frequently adjusting the temperature. When it's cold out, I adjust the temperature to 85° AND I turn up the fan. When it's hot in the car, I adjust the temperature to 65° AND I turn up the fan. In my Benz and in my wife's Lexus, I pretty much just leave everything on auto at 72° and it mostly works.
If I don't micromanage the climate settings, it actually takes my Tesla longer to get to heat up to a comfortable temperature than my gasoline cars, and that's just wrong.
The car really needs to be more aggressive about getting the cabin to the right temperature. If it's 40° in the car, and the set point is 72°, I promise that I don't want 72° air blown at me, I want 90° air blown at me. Sure, that will take more power, but the car comes with a huge battery. I hate when the car thinks I want to compromise something to increase range. I don't want any compromises.
For one, the interior temperature seems high by 8°F. This isn't a huge deal since I can set the temperature to 80°F, but then I get comments from other passengers about "80°!" and all I can do is explain that my new expensive car can't get a temperature reading correct. The outdoor temperature seems quite believable, but the iPhone app reads 8°F higher when the car has been sitting in the garage overnight with the windows open. Did Tesla hope that we'd use less energy draining heat if they miscalibrated all of the interior sensors by 8°? or maybe Broder would look more the fool for feeling cold with the temperature set in the 70s?
For another, the fan setting on "auto" is way too weak at getting the car to a proper temperature. I'm frequently adjusting the fan speed manually, and I'm frequently adjusting the temperature. When it's cold out, I adjust the temperature to 85° AND I turn up the fan. When it's hot in the car, I adjust the temperature to 65° AND I turn up the fan. In my Benz and in my wife's Lexus, I pretty much just leave everything on auto at 72° and it mostly works.
If I don't micromanage the climate settings, it actually takes my Tesla longer to get to heat up to a comfortable temperature than my gasoline cars, and that's just wrong.
The car really needs to be more aggressive about getting the cabin to the right temperature. If it's 40° in the car, and the set point is 72°, I promise that I don't want 72° air blown at me, I want 90° air blown at me. Sure, that will take more power, but the car comes with a huge battery. I hate when the car thinks I want to compromise something to increase range. I don't want any compromises.
The calibration evidently varies from car to car. I'm quite comfortable with the HVAC set to 20C (68F), and get too hot if set to 22C. Others say they have to crank it up a lot higher.
Good to know I'm not alone! It's probably just a matter of tweaking the software for HVAC. Many things to fix on the control logic (eg. fan speed too slow at cold temperature).
mnx
2018 M3P
It seems to me a few apologies are in order for jumping down Broder's throat for saying he had the heat set too high. 
teslasguy
MSP P#1117
I was told that the temp sensor is located near some electronics equip and that when it heats up it causes the temp sensor to think the cabin is warm.
P1117 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
P1117 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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wow, your car comes with a canon?
Is the "electronics equip" on overnight?
Regardless, it's something I'd like Tesla to fix. The temp sensor should not read a temperature that's 8°F off from reality.
That would explain why the AC starts blowing cold even more after extended driving.
mnx
2018 M3P
There's an easy solution for that, turn the AC from auto to off. Are you sure it's not just pulling cold air from outside? (ie. vent)
It's probably only cold air from outside, but it shouldn't happen anyway. On all my other cars, I set them temp to 20.5C and forget about it. Not with Model S.
I'm starting to be annoyed by all these "comfort" issues (ie. non working auto settings in winter, unreliable temp. sensors, really bad auto sensing wipers, low pressure rattle, not able to use projected range anymore on the main display). Don't get me wrong, the car platform is amazing but these issues are showing it's Tesla's first real car.
I can't wait for the next firmware update, we'll see.
EDIT: Forgot the initial wiper swipe when door open - aka free shower...
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yep, me too, +1. temp reading is off by a good bit and the fan doesn't regulate its speed to properly maintain temps.
i've told tm service my issue (more than once) and they have yet to schedule a service appt... so. i'm going to keep bugging them, but i'm hoping this is a firmware tweak, sensor calibration issue, and not a replace/reposition the sensor issue. but it probably is ultimately. something isn't right.
this needs fixing right away.
i've told tm service my issue (more than once) and they have yet to schedule a service appt... so. i'm going to keep bugging them, but i'm hoping this is a firmware tweak, sensor calibration issue, and not a replace/reposition the sensor issue. but it probably is ultimately. something isn't right.
this needs fixing right away.
It seems odd how many of us think that the interior temperature sensor is high by 8°F or 4°C. not 5°F or 12°F, but 7-8.
I wonder how much stuff they're trying to cram into the next FW release. Sometimes the time it takes to release grows faster than the amount of stuff you want to put into your FW. e.g., if you have 100 things to do, it can take you longer to have a release with all 100 things than to have 5 releases each with 20 things. and folks are usually happier to see some progress with the more incremental approach.
Luckily, relocating a temperature sensor is one of the simplest possible hardware retrofits. Much simpler than rearranging the dashboard ductwork.
Ulmo
Active Member
Has anybody located the temperature sensor?
Also, has anybody figured out for sure why it starts blowing cold air on long trips when it's freezing outside?
I am using a heat sensor gun, and I located a cold patch on the footwell at around 65F, when the rest of the cabin is 72F-78F. I'm going to try to insulate it.
But, I think moving the temperature sensor will work better. So that would be a better solution. Obviously, Tesla doesn't want to fix it in software or hardware, since I have a car made in November 2016 and software from less than a month ago.
Also, has anybody figured out for sure why it starts blowing cold air on long trips when it's freezing outside?
I am using a heat sensor gun, and I located a cold patch on the footwell at around 65F, when the rest of the cabin is 72F-78F. I'm going to try to insulate it.
But, I think moving the temperature sensor will work better. So that would be a better solution. Obviously, Tesla doesn't want to fix it in software or hardware, since I have a car made in November 2016 and software from less than a month ago.
Ulmo
Active Member
Reading these forums helped. For the first time, I found a manual setting for heat that seems to work.
I alternate between lower vent and lower vent+dash.
If the fan is set higher, it gets too hot.
If the temperature is set lower (next setting down is 81°F), it gets way too cold. It often blows cold air. It gets worse during long trips.
A/C on is ok, and helps keep fog off the windows. A/C off heats faster, but fogs the windows, and is unnecessary.
Recirculation is unnecessary, and is probably too hot.
I haven't played with recirculation + 81°F much, but since it blows cold air at 81°, I don't really see the point.
I alternate between lower vent and lower vent+dash.
If the fan is set higher, it gets too hot.
If the temperature is set lower (next setting down is 81°F), it gets way too cold. It often blows cold air. It gets worse during long trips.
A/C on is ok, and helps keep fog off the windows. A/C off heats faster, but fogs the windows, and is unnecessary.
Recirculation is unnecessary, and is probably too hot.
I haven't played with recirculation + 81°F much, but since it blows cold air at 81°, I don't really see the point.
mknox
Well-Known Member
Since about mid to late 2013, the sensor is located on the forward side of the center armrest above the USB ports. It looks like a tiny speaker grill because it is fitted with an aspirator to draw cabin air in and over the sensor. On older cars like mine, it is located somewhere behind the dashboard near the steering wheel and has no aspirator fan.
Ulmo
Active Member
I got the impression from early Bjorn videos Bjørn Nyland that early model S's were "some assembly required". So, unfortunately, I'm experiencing the same thing.
I decided to try Rock Wool: sound and temperature insulation, under the driver floor mat. I put it in. Pros:
First up, I tried the vacuum bag. It's a bit of a chore to get the bag to work right (cheap zipper, plastic tears, getting nozzle in a good place where it ends up in use and still vacuums (it has to be placed on the contents to suck all the air out, yet placed correctly to not interfere with my installation)), but it seems to suck the Rock Wool to 1/3rd its original size, and also, it will keep the fibers in place. I had to fold the excess of the bag over, which is a chore. This whole sandwich went under the mat. Disadvantages of the vacuum bag: burnable, and I figure the smooth plastic will cause a gap where the air can easily pass through and around the bag unimpeded. I'd have to somehow gasket the bag to the floor, in other words. Some sort of insulation, maybe?
So, I experienced most of my problems getting cold as it turns out on California Highway 120: long distances, often reduced state of charge of the battery, high speeds for extended times, cold, and at night. So, anybody from Tesla who wants to experience crappy heating at the feet might try Highway 120 from the factory to Yosemite and back at night, especially right now, with snow on the roads and it still being winter cold out. But, see above, where I discuss that I might have had my weight (around 175#) cause a puncture in the floor of the car as I got in and out which may be different than a factory model.
Are we not supposed to stand in the car while getting in and out of it? It's hard enough not to hurt myself getting in and out, so what seems to work well in every other way right now seems like it would be dumb to stop doing if it causes me injury to try another method.
This would have been a fun YouTube video, but then I'd need a video helper, video editing time, and I'm self conscious about how I sound, so forget that.
Pictures:
I decided to try Rock Wool: sound and temperature insulation, under the driver floor mat. I put it in. Pros:
- It blocked out a huge amount of noise. Lots of noise still comes in from all sorts of other areas of the car, and I heard many many ICE engines and other loud noises, however, it is amazing how much noise that one mat absorbed. That is a huge advantage.
- It seems like it is in the right position to stop a large amount of the cold air coming in from that area I found with the heat gun.
- While installing it, I realized two things: that the area that gets cold depresses slightly more than the rest of the floor there, and that that is exactly where I put the weight of my entire body when I get in; is that causing the car to break, and therefore there is a hole there the service center did not find? Is that another disadvantage of not getting the Model X where it is easier to get in and out? Maybe I discovered something during this process.
- Rock Wool is insulating, sound absorbing, and won't burn worth a damn, so actually prevents some fire spread a little.
- I cut a cake of the wool so thick that the accelerator doesn't go all the way in. I will thin it there somehow.
- I put the Rock Wool in naked, which dispersed fibers throughout the cabin the first time I got in. I decided I had to wrap it somehow.
- It does not have a lot strength; when I get in and out, it gives way, and will probably disintegrate in lots of use and movement in driving.
First up, I tried the vacuum bag. It's a bit of a chore to get the bag to work right (cheap zipper, plastic tears, getting nozzle in a good place where it ends up in use and still vacuums (it has to be placed on the contents to suck all the air out, yet placed correctly to not interfere with my installation)), but it seems to suck the Rock Wool to 1/3rd its original size, and also, it will keep the fibers in place. I had to fold the excess of the bag over, which is a chore. This whole sandwich went under the mat. Disadvantages of the vacuum bag: burnable, and I figure the smooth plastic will cause a gap where the air can easily pass through and around the bag unimpeded. I'd have to somehow gasket the bag to the floor, in other words. Some sort of insulation, maybe?
So, I experienced most of my problems getting cold as it turns out on California Highway 120: long distances, often reduced state of charge of the battery, high speeds for extended times, cold, and at night. So, anybody from Tesla who wants to experience crappy heating at the feet might try Highway 120 from the factory to Yosemite and back at night, especially right now, with snow on the roads and it still being winter cold out. But, see above, where I discuss that I might have had my weight (around 175#) cause a puncture in the floor of the car as I got in and out which may be different than a factory model.
Are we not supposed to stand in the car while getting in and out of it? It's hard enough not to hurt myself getting in and out, so what seems to work well in every other way right now seems like it would be dumb to stop doing if it causes me injury to try another method.
This would have been a fun YouTube video, but then I'd need a video helper, video editing time, and I'm self conscious about how I sound, so forget that.
Pictures:
Ulmo
Active Member
Pictures of Rock Wool naked:
I already tested this and it works for sound, but I haven't tested it for the described problems, but it seems like it ought to work great. It has introduced problems as noted above.
I already tested this and it works for sound, but I haven't tested it for the described problems, but it seems like it ought to work great. It has introduced problems as noted above.
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