Don't want heater on, want vent

[favo]

Have any of you experienced in auto the front blowing cold air but the rear vents blowing hot air?

Yeah, I was just testing this last night. The rear vents seemed to be blowing warmer air than the front vents, which were blowing cool air. It wasn't just for the first several seconds either. (I wouldn't call it hot air from the rear vents, though.)

 

[SoCalGuy]

Yeah, I was just testing this last night. The rear vents seemed to be blowing warmer air than the front vents, which were blowing cool air. It wasn't just for the first several seconds either. (I wouldn't call it hot air from the rear vents, though.)

Seems to be something I’ve just noticed with 39.7 - did you have this problem before as well?

 

[favo]

Seems to be something I’ve just noticed with 39.7 - did you have this problem before as well?

Don't know, but others reported it (on earlier firmware, I think), so I decided to check it out.

 

[UnknownSoldier]

I have been wanting a "Vent" option since the days I had my S. I don't know why no one has thought of this yet at Tesla.

 

[SalisburySam]

Those of us who bought the early Nissan LEAF, 2012 SL in my case, had this very same issue, and all the issues raised here were raised then. A subscriber to the mynissanleaf forum developed a single-wire mod to the climate control head and voila, we instantly had a heat-less vent mode, and it is wonderful. I don’t think anyone is going to mod the Model 3 climate controls so 3rd-party solutions are probably not in the cards. And I agree, this could be a software thing in a Model 3.

ICE vehicles with their free heat notwithstanding, I don’t understand why the LEAF debuted without a vent feature, though corrected in later model years. Especially with all the complaints this oversight created with the LEAF, I don’t understand why Tesla decided to do the same...and created the same discontent all over again six years later.

I DO understand the “set it and forget it” approach to as many vehicle systems as possible, allegedly to reduce the need to futz with controls not directly applicable to driving the vehicle. In an EV however, the price penalty for HVAC, cooling or heating, is a range consideration and, while autonomy is nice to have, manual controls for all functions related to vehicle range are needed. And with heat being a higher consumer of electrons than cooling, disabling the heat has to be an allowed function in the EV without totally disabling ventilation.

So what’s the answer? Not sure, but keeping the requests going to Tesla may work over time. Maybe even submitting bug reports when using the system and getting heat when you don’t want it? After some time Nissan changed how this works, maybe Tesla will too?

 

[Dave80537]

I have another complaint about the HVAC system...After the v9 update, whenever I put the fan in "Auto", the A/C comes on. That was not true before the update. I'm in Colorado and it's damned cold here and I'd like to be able to increase or decrease the temperature and have the fan speed adjust automatically without having to run the A/C, just as I could before the update.

 

[Big Earl]

After completing a 1,300 mile road trip from DC to Michigan this weekend, I can report that I'm very happy with the automatic climate control. It kept us perfectly comfortable in automatic mode with only a few adjustments of temperature on our entire weekend trip. Thinking about this more, I like the simple interface and I don't want it to be overcomplicated with more options for disabling functions and features.

 

[abasile]

I agree that it's annoying to have the A/C come on anytime you attempt to change an HVAC or seat heater setting. I particularly liked the climate control UI on our pre-v9 Model S. It was easy to toggle the HVAC on and off with a single tap on the screen. Now it takes two taps like on our Model 3, not ideal while driving. (In general, if we could go back to v8 on our "classic" Model S, we would - it's less snazzy looking, but more usable with fewer distractions while driving.)

I have another complaint about the HVAC system...After the v9 update, whenever I put the fan in "Auto", the A/C comes on. That was not true before the update. I'm in Colorado and it's damned cold here and I'd like to be able to increase or decrease the temperature and have the fan speed adjust automatically without having to run the A/C, just as I could before the update.

 

[Wooloomooloo]

You can turn the A/C off and change the temp to "Lo" and it will simply vent outside air, no?

 

[Big Earl]

You can turn the A/C off and change the temp to "Lo" and it will simply vent outside air, no?

Correct. Changing to LO doesn't require multiple taps, either... just press on the temperature and swipe all the way to the left.

 

[hiroshiy]

Correct. Changing to LO doesn't require multiple taps, either... just press on the temperature and swipe all the way to the left.

Wow thanks for the trick!

One more question - does creating another driver profile just for this vent setting; i.e. AC off, temp to LO? I guess not...

 

[dgpcolorado]

I agree that it's annoying to have the A/C come on anytime you attempt to change an HVAC or seat heater setting. I particularly liked the climate control UI on our pre-v9 Model S. It was easy to toggle the HVAC on and off with a single tap on the screen. Now it takes two taps like on our Model 3, not ideal while driving. (In general, if we could go back to v8 on our "classic" Model S, we would - it's less snazzy looking, but more usable with fewer distractions while driving.)

Finally solved the climate control problem by accident when the V9 update defaulted my right scroll wheel to the climate control function. Now I can turn CC on or off with a push of the scroll wheel and control temperature by scrolling. No need to tap the screen at all.

I used to want voice control for CC but using the right scroll wheel is even easier and doesn't require a cell signal for voice commands to work, a problem where I live, as you know. I have no idea if this function is available for the Model 3 but it should work on your S, assuming that you aren't using the right scroll wheel for some other function — I never used it for anything at all!

 

[beachmiles]

Love this thread title. 100% agree.
Please give us a heater toggle button while in manual mode. Ideally add a heater off mode, level 1 reuse battery heat in cabin only, or level 2 / max kW to use for cabin heating.

Updated the link I found in this thread to the right moretesla page. Many other links on this, I just emailed Tesla about it as well.
MoreTesla

Feature Request: Separate heating and cooling temperatures for the climate control : TeslaLounge

Heater on/off Button?

There's an AC button, why not a heater button? | Tesla

Turn heater off? | Tesla

How to prevent heater from going on | Tesla

Any way to disable heat in Model 3? - Tesla Owners Online

Reddit - teslamotors - Teslas really need a "Vent" function for the HVAC

 

[Big Earl]

level 1 reuse battery heat in cabin only

Impossible. There is no way to get heat from the battery or the motors into the cabin, as there is no liquid heat exchanger in the HVAC box. Cabin heat is electric only.

The heat felt great this morning, by the way.

 

[Fernand]

Talk about first world problems ;-)

 

[SleeperService]

Impossible. There is no way to get heat from the battery or the motors into the cabin, as there is no liquid heat exchanger in the HVAC box. Cabin heat is electric only.

The heat felt great this morning, by the way.

I don't think that this is true, is it? Track Mode uses the HVAC to cool the motors and batteries, so couldn't it (conceivably) dump the heat into the cabin instead of the external radiator? That said, under normal circumstances [e.g. not on the track], I'm not sure that there is a whole lot of heat to be rejected to the environment from the batteries or motors.

 

[derotam]

I don't think that this is true, is it? Track Mode uses the HVAC to cool the motors and batteries, so couldn't it (conceivably) dump the heat into the cabin instead of the external radiator? That said, under normal circumstances [e.g. not on the track], I'm not sure that there is a whole lot of heat to be rejected to the environment from the batteries or motors.

Yes, if the AC had a reversing valve, thereby making it a heatpump. Too bad it doesn't.

 

[physicsofx]

Defrost:
Clearing the windows is often the biggest problem (and was true with our Nissan Leaf too). Also cold feet are a problem.

Heat pump:
I agree the heat pump idea seems like another important change to the HVAC system. For now, when I need to clear the windows, I run the heat (defrost) or I open the windows for a few minutes (only open them enough to clear the windows). We have winters where rain, snow, humidity, and cold rotate almost daily so clearing the windows is serious.

Feet heat:
Also as far as efficient heat goes, I have thought about many ways to heat my feet (and only my feet) without wasting energy. I thought about some sort of heated floor mat but I think this would cause the water on the floor to evaporate and condense (thus freezing) on the windows on the inside.

Suitcase battery:
Another idea would be to have an optional battery capacity which is used only for heating (if selected) so the car's range would be less affected in winter. I could also envision a separate battery for use in emergency if the car should run out of charge. This battery would need to be the size of a suitcase or something that could fit in the trunk or frunk. Tesla roadside could use them to give a simple solution to a low battery just enough to drive to a charger.

 

[Big Earl]

I don't think that this is true, is it? Track Mode uses the HVAC to cool the motors and batteries, so couldn't it (conceivably) dump the heat into the cabin instead of the external radiator? That said, under normal circumstances [e.g. not on the track], I'm not sure that there is a whole lot of heat to be rejected to the environment from the batteries or motors.

The battery and motors are cooled by the air conditioning compressor, which can only provide cooling. There is no mechanism for transferring heat from the electronics to the cabin.

 

[gavine]

My solution has been to set the temp to 'Lo' which seems to work, as long as the AC is off.

But sometimes you need AC to dehumidify and @ LO, it's too cold (runs compressor at full tilt). With a heater-off button, you can set a higher temperature so that the AC compressor runs on low and no heat gets mixed in.