*Coolness* Anybody else pre-conditioning the cabin to stay cool?

[StealthP3D]

With the return of summer, I've been appreciating the naturally cool interior of the Model 3 when compared to my previous gasoline cars which seemed to radiate a lot of engine heat into the cabin after it had been driven a few miles. I found that heat in the front footwells, from the hot engine, required me to crank the A/C a lot harder to feel reasonably comfortable. I think when your feet are cool, your whole body feels cool, calm and collected.

I use the cabin pre-conditioning feature on the app to pre-cool the car before I arrive if it's been sitting in the hot sun. It barely uses any range and it's refreshing to get into a cool car. So I've been staying a lot more cool, calm and collected.

Anyone else enjoy this feature? When do you like it the most?

 

[Allistah]

My life loves it. I read an article about how Tesla is having a hard time selling their cars to women and I think this is just a little thing that my life loves. Even though the display crashed on her while on the freeway and freaked her out, she still loves the car more than any other car we had. Her last car was a Lexus IS 350 F-Sport and she loved that car. But she loves the Tesla M3 more!

Her only real complaint was that it doesn't alert when backing up and there is cross traffic coming down the street like her Lexus had. It would alert when there was a car 30+ feet away which was nice. The M3 only alerts when you're within inches of something which is unfortunate.

 

[Darmie]

It's a great feature. I do preconditioning through teslafi. You just set it and forget it.
Here's an example of turning on the HVAC and setting climate to 72. I pick a temperature due to her setting different in the morning then what is needed in evening.

 

[TT97]

It's a great feature. I do preconditioning through teslafi. You just set it and forget it.
Here's an example of turning on the HVAC and setting climate to 72. I pick a temperature due to her setting different in the morning then what is needed in evening.

View attachment 432119

Lucky Karen she can leave work at 4:00!

I try to remember using precondition as much as I can (typically turn it on when I get to the 18th tee). As an added benefit, the conditioning also cools down the seat so the "leather" is cool when you sit down (not as nice as ventilated seats but worlds better than sitting on hot leather).

 

[DavidElg]

Living in Florida I find myself using this feature a lot.

 

[destructure00]

I use it all the time. Park outside for an hour in Phoenix and the interior temp is in the 140s or 150s. A few minutes of preconditioning and it's comfortable to get in and drive away.

 

[Rockster]

I use it all the time. And in the winter I warm the car before getting in it. One of the many reasons I love my Teslas.

 

[AdamMacDon]

It's probably my second favorite feature of the car, only beaten by driving past gas stations. My Dodge Charger had remote start and I used that on some of the hottest or coldest days, but idling a 5.7L gas guzzler just for my comfort felt beyond wasteful and it took way longer to reach a decent temp inside the cabin, especially on cold days.

 

[jebinc]

Yes, I have ben known to do this from time to time - just because no other car I have owned offered me this "service"!

 

[ewoodrick]

I'm in Atlanta, the car cools down so quickly with the electric AC that I don't worry about it.

 

[jackhodges]

I use it all summer long. Ten minutes before I leave work, I crank on the A/C and enter the car at 72F. Awesome feature!

 

[TyH2009]

Been using it a lot recently when I get ready to leave the office. 4:28 I turn it on, leave at 4:30, get to my car at 4:31, and it's not surface-of-the-sun hot anymore.

I did the same walking up to the car from the store yesterday since it was 98 degrees.

 

[Octo]

I think it’s super awesome. It’s also available for some ICE cars. A friend of mine has a Kia SUV that he can remotely start the engine and the AC from his cell phone.

The Tesla’s really awesome unique feature for me is the automatic cabin cooling to prevent the interior to heat up excessively. Even if I forget to use my app to precondition the cabin, the seats are never scorching.

 

[Ragnarkov]

Its been much warmer laterly outside, and I'm finding the preconditioning is absolutely FANTASTIC. It even does a awesome job of cooling down the seats, which do seem to heat up in the sun super fast.

I bet with the heatwave going across the US, my neighbours to the south are loving the feature right now...

And the fact we don't need to be in range, and burning fuel JUST to run the compressor is like icing on an icecream cake

 

[StealthP3D]

I think it’s super awesome. It’s also available for some ICE cars. A friend of mine has a Kia SUV that he can remotely start the engine and the AC from his cell phone.

The reason the A/C in the Model 3 is so superior to any ICE air conditioning is that it uses a variable speed electric motor that turns an appropriate speed for the cooling demand. If the cabin is much hotter than the set temperature it turns the compressor at high speed to bring cold air quickly. On the other hand, all ICE A/C that I'm aware of runs off an accessory belt connected directly to the engine. That means the compressor can only turn at idle speed when the engine is idling which is why ICE A/C take a long time to get cold if the engine is only idling. In addition, the A/C needs to "fight" all the heat soaked A/C components that are in the hot engine bay which makes idling to cool your ICE car extra inefficient.

I simply would not feel good about idling an engine to gradually cool the cabin if there were any people around breathing the exhaust. It's so inefficient, it's gross. But I never feel bad about pre-cooling either of our Model 3's for two or three minutes because it's so efficient and it doesn't leave a cloud of toxic exhaust around the car. In an ICE car I just get in and bear it until it gradually becomes cool as I drive with the windows down.

 

[JBT66]

I turn it on from my Apple Watch frequently.
I also LEAVE the AC on when I go into most stores.
It’s over 100 degrees during the summer here so it’s needed haha.

 

[AdamMacDon]

I turn it on from my Apple Watch frequently.
I also LEAVE the AC on when I go into most stores.
It’s over 100 degrees during the summer here so it’s needed haha.

Heck, I do that here in Canada, if you power shop like me, it's more energy efficient to MAINTAIN a cool cabin for 10-20 minutes instead of having to go through the energy consumption of clearing all that hot air out a second time. Also it's super nice and comfortable, which is the main benefit

 

[StealthP3D]

Heck, I do that here in Canada, if you power shop like me, it's more energy efficient to MAINTAIN a cool cabin for 10-20 minutes instead of having to go through the energy consumption of clearing all that hot air out a second time. Also it's super nice and comfortable, which is the main benefit

I was just wondering about that yesterday. I wonder at what point it becomes more efficient to turn it off and just pre-cool for three minutes before arriving back to your car?

 

[cbaaz]

.........

Anyone else enjoy this feature? When do you like it the most?

Every day - multiple times per day. Love it.

My last couple of ICE cars had the sale feature, but were limited to 2x 10 minute run times before it had to be started with the key from inside vehicle. Plus, Tesla’s air conditioner is waaay better than any other I have experienced.

I do miss not having cooled/ventilated seats, though.

 

[Aellinsar]

Living in Florida I find myself using this feature a lot.

Living in Ohio, I also use this feature a lot! My previous car was also black with black leather interior. As someone else in this thread said, being able to precool the car is my second favorite feature.