EV Tuning HEPA cabin filter review

[tlr1000]

So I took my AO's out and compared to the Tesla originals.
They're a little less wide (maybe a quarter inch) and slightly less tall -- can't tell from the photos but it's there. Plus the fuzzy stuff around isn't as "solid" so I feel like there's a few opportunities for air to just pass around them instead of through them.

I put a little bit of weatherstripping on the top of the bottom piece, and a thin strip of stuff leftover from the noise reduction kit on the side. On the top piece, I used the thicker weatherstripping on the side since it gets pressed up against the door. (I used the thinner piece on the bottom to make sure it would slide down into the slot OK

Hopefully this will help, but as I'm not driving all that much these days it'll probably be a while until I get behind a stinky truck and can try it out.

Thanks for taking the effort to post those pictures. After you get a chance to go out for a drive and test it behind some vehicle with smelly exhaust, please let us know if there's an improvement.

I hope that it helps but really we shouldn't have to modify an aftermarket part that is way more expensive than OEM.

 

[TydalForce]

I hope that it helps but really we shouldn't have to modify an aftermarket part that is way more expensive than OEM.

We shouldn't have to modify the car either, yet here we all are soundproofing and ceramic coating...

 

[tlr1000]

UPDATE: I decided that I would write back to EVTuning with the following:

Hello,

I assume I received a refund because I wrote a negative review about the ineffectiveness of the product. I want to thank you for the refund however I am wondering if it was a mistake that my review was deleted? My review was honest and describes exactly what my experience was. With the review deleted, potential customers are not getting a true picture – rather, all they see are a number of perfect 5-star reviews. If this was a mistake, please reinstate the review. If my review was intentionally deleted I would like to know the rationale rather than assuming it was removed to mislead consumers.

Thank you​

Will let you know how they respond. Think they'll come clean or just ignore the email?

It's been about a week since I sent the email above to EVTuning and crickets. I took a look at their own brand of other Model 3 products and including these filters I found a total of 4 products where customers gave ratings (HEPA filter, All-weather mats, Qi charger, & puddle lights). Total gross number of ratings is 11 and every one gave their item a 5 star rating.

 

[lUtriaNt]

i came from a car that had plasmacluster ion technology which measures pollutants and adjusts (kinda like what the X does in bio mode or whatever), so in my experience the model 3 hepa filters do a very good job because the air is mostly on point with my experience in my old car. i keep the hvac on auto and let it do what it do and once or twice I may have had an odor of exhaust enter (faintly), so it seems the model 3 filters are much better than a standard cabin filter.

my opinion.

 

[Mash]

i came from a car that had plasmacluster ion technology which measures pollutants and adjusts (kinda like what the X does in bio mode or whatever), so in my experience the model 3 hepa filters do a very good job because the air is mostly on point with my experience in my old car. i keep the hvac on auto and let it do what it do and once or twice I may have had an odor of exhaust enter (faintly), so it seems the model 3 filters are much better than a standard cabin filter.

my opinion.

I hate to disappoint you, but ion charging does nothing about odor. What it does is it charges large pieces of dust with electrostatic charge so that some dust particles stick to interior with higher force. It just cleans air somewhat better at the cost of dirtier interior. Luckily, though, they don't put strong enough generator inside to have any significant difference.

So your observation would be correct - model 3 filter works on the same level as your old car filter. Because ion generator doesn't do anything.

And bio mode is not about that. It's about running large fan through large HEPA filter fast enough so it can pressurize cabin above 30 PA and effectively prevent unfiltered air passing through the holes in a car. Same technology as any clean room.

 

[grmdl3]

Late to the party here, but...HEPA filters won't do anything about odors entering the cab, since odors aren't typically caused by particulates. It's probably very hard to "notice" a difference between air filtered through a HEPA filter and unfiltered air. You'll see less dust accumulating on the dash or something, but a skunk will still smell like a skunk. And diesel particulates are surely reduced.

No idea whether the filters the OP bought are actually HEPA, though.

 

[tlr1000]

We shouldn't have to modify the car either, yet here we all are soundproofing and ceramic coating...

I think we are talking about different things here. Soundproofing and ceramic coating are adding things in addition to factory spec. This would also be like window tinting along with many other mods. I meant that if you are outright replacing a factory part and buy something with higher claims and higher cost, it should not require any design modification. Since these HEPA filters cost more than OEM, they should work better and fit better. That's my expectation. The modification you made to your filters hopefully help.

 

[tlr1000]

Late to the party here, but...HEPA filters won't do anything about odors entering the cab, since odors aren't typically caused by particulates. It's probably very hard to "notice" a difference between air filtered through a HEPA filter and unfiltered air. You'll see less dust accumulating on the dash or something, but a skunk will still smell like a skunk. And diesel particulates are surely reduced.

No idea whether the filters the OP bought are actually HEPA, though.

Less dust would be a welcome thing. I assume the claim for odor removal was not so much the alleged HEPA element itself but perhaps the activated carbon.

Anyways, part of the decision to purchase was due to the perfect customer ratings and claims which I now know are 'filtered' so to speak. I think that even a lot of YouTubers who are very transparent about the fact they were given a product for free to evaluate can not be bias-free since a negative review would jeopardize future opportunities for freebies.

 

[TydalForce]

I think we are talking about different things here. Soundproofing and ceramic coating are adding things in addition to factory spec. This would also be like window tinting along with many other mods. I meant that if you are outright replacing a factory part and buy something with higher claims and higher cost, it should not require any design modification. Since these HEPA filters cost more than OEM, they should work better and fit better. That's my expectation. The modification you made to your filters hopefully help.

i see a lot of people getting ceramic coating because Tesla’s paint is not that durable, or dealing with soundproofing because of excessive wind noise. They’re reacting to what they consider deficiencies in the design, rather than just “I want to make it better”; that’s what I meant.

 

[Ritz]

i see a lot of people getting ceramic coating because Tesla’s paint is not that durable, or dealing with soundproofing because of excessive wind noise. They’re reacting to what they consider deficiencies in the design, rather than just “I want to make it better”; that’s what I meant.

People ceramic coat all kinds of cars. It's a very popular paint protection step for many auto enthusiasts.

Best,

 

[TydalForce]

People ceramic coat all kinds of cars. It's a very popular paint protection step for many auto enthusiasts.

Best,

I know this. I'm not talking about them. I see a lot of people on the forum feeling an urgency to getting it, and doing so because Tesla's paint is softer than most.

 

[Ritz]

I know this. I'm not talking about them. I see a lot of people on the forum feeling an urgency to getting it, and doing so because Tesla's paint is softer than most.

Not seeing the "urgency" you're referring to. I think what you're experiencing is "confirmation bias."

Best,

 

[SMAlset]

I know this. I'm not talking about them. I see a lot of people on the forum feeling an urgency to getting it, and doing so because Tesla's paint is softer than most.

FWIW point of reference from our standpoint, we put Xpel on both our cars to protect against rock chips and door dings and ceramic coated on top to help with bird droppings, washing and nice shine. Never a thought to the "softer" paint which I've seen debated anyway.


Just had mobile out on Friday to do a condenser clean and new air filters. First time cleaning/changing out since 9/2018. Last year we had the horrible wildfire smoke in the bay which was at very high levels (sky was very yellow/brown too). I could slightly smell the smoke in my Model 3 but it did seem a world better than being out in the open air where it was very strong. Our Model S we drove through the previous year's wildfires along 101 south to Santa Ynez and the Model S's HEPA filters with the bioweapon defense setting eliminated any trace of smoke in the cabin. When we were in Santa Ynez with the fires right there in the mountain, we even had ash falling on our car. Really good test of the Model S/X filtration. Wish my Model 3 had that same level of filtration as the Model S. The Model S on Defense mode also uses air pressure to aid in keeping the cleansed filtered interior air inside and prevents bad exterior air from entering the cabin. That's not something that our Model 3s are capable of doing if I'm not mistaken so the air filter quality is only part of the solution to the best of my understanding. Putting the Tesla HEPA Filter and Bioweapon Defense Mode to the Test

Appreciate OP's review of the filters he bought. My car did BTW develop the stinky smell for the first few minutes the AC was turned on. We had the touchless mobile home service which was great. My husband did go out before the mobile tech left and asked to see the filters and he told me they were pretty bad. Wish he had taken a photo but he didn't. Anyway drove the car today and stinky odor is gone.

 

[Mash]

Interesting fact - smoke smell is mostly from ash dust, not from gas. So HEPA filter works great with that. And Model S has minimum 100x capacity for that. Installing actual HEPA filter in Model 3 instead of stock during nearby wildfires is going to clog filter within a day...

P.S. Filter capacity is not proportion of filter area, because 2x larger same level filter has 2x lower initial pressure drop, so you can put thicker layer of dust to have same airflow. Also, it depends on maximum pressure of the fan, which in model S/X is much higher, so another multiple...

 

[felizf]

So basically stick with the oem filter then? And to think I almost pulled the trigger on the Amazon hepa filter.

 

[tlr1000]

No idea on the Amazon filter but certainly I would not recommend the EVTuning ones. At least Amazon ones are cheaper. To date EVTuning never answered my email on why they removed my review.

 

[TydalForce]

FWIW - Since making my modifications, I don't think I've smelled ANYTHING.
Having said that, I'm not sure I've been anywhere stinky since anyway, so nothing conclusive yet (c:

 

[felizf]

Thanks for the input guys!

 

[AdamMacDon]

So basically stick with the oem filter then? And to think I almost pulled the trigger on the Amazon hepa filter.

I'd recommend saving your money. I paid $100 for the Abstract Ocean ones and I'm not really happy with them. I wish I'd got the OEM filter instead, save some money and honestly these ones have a slightly odd smell. Not terrible, but I much prefer the smell from the OEM filter.

 

[tlr1000]

...I'm not sure I've been anywhere stinky since anyway, so nothing conclusive yet (c:

If your mod worked, you'd never know - maybe you've already gone through a bunch of stinky places . Keep us posted.

I'd recommend saving your money. I paid $100 for the Abstract Ocean ones and I'm not really happy with them. I wish I'd got the OEM filter instead, save some money and honestly these ones have a slightly odd smell. Not terrible, but I much prefer the smell from the OEM filter.

AO and EVT ones look identical. I agree OEM are better than these but hopefully someone will make a better one in future. Don't hold your breath