Fresh Air Intake Upgrade

[laservet]

Would a piece of screen suit the purpose as well?

 

[52 16 57 39]

Would a piece of screen suit the purpose as well?

Perhaps.

I like that idea. I’m heading back out to the garage to find some scraps...

 

[artnalex]

Would a piece of screen suit the purpose as well?

I just made a window screen out of a screen kit. I have a bunch of extra screen. Guess what I might do now?....

 

[Ol'Blue]

Screen will work, but may do some damage to the surrounding foam. (Not a hard thing to replace if it ever comes up)

 

[akballow]

Lol i do not have a photo but my buddy put a frickin hair net on his intake. I laughed but man oh man did it actually serve its purpose.

 

[CleverUsername]

Lol i do not have a photo but my buddy put a frickin hair net on his intake. I laughed but man oh man did it actually serve its purpose.

This is actually a brilliant idea. Keeps large debris out of the intake, elastic keeps it on snuggly, doesn’t damage the foam...I do believe I’m going to order some hair nets so I can copy your buddy.

 

[Midnightsun]

The filter material I used is no thicker than 3/4". If there is a bulge it must very small.

 

[52 16 57 39]

I’m going to use window screen material today and or cheesecloth... the furnace filter material works well, but mine is certainly 1” thick - which is at the maximum thickness. If you can find 1/2” filter media - it would be amazing in my book.

I also love the idea of a hair net w the elastic band stretched over the intake channel.

 

[DaveORD]

And suddenly there are special Tesla edition hair nets for sale on eBay, only $500. Along with Tesla pantyhose and whatever else they can stretch over that opening and turn into a filter...

 

[52 16 57 39]

And watch... someone will buy them... smh

 

[Midnightsun]

UPDATE

Prefilter is doing a really good job! This is after 4 months to the day after installation. It has picked up quite a bit of grime as can be seen in the pictures. This is on relatively clean roads during winter use. No gravel roads or anything out of the normal stuff. Put about 3,000km on her which is not much yet there is quite a bit in there which would have ended up in the main filter. Overall this is a worth while addition considering the very low cost and ease of replacement. Will change mine out about 3 times a year based on what I see now.

I did not put much milage on the car however due to winter, preheating happens probably 2 times a day in my case and that heater does move a lot of air causing the filtration to work harder than an ICE vehicle.

Bottom line is the prefilter picks up quite a bit that would clog up the main filter much quicker compared to not having one.

 

[HeyEph]

Nice. Thanks for posting. I noticed that the 2021 air intakes are different and that you can buy filter kits for them on Amazon. But, not for the 2020s.

 

[Midnightsun]

Nice. Thanks for posting. I noticed that the 2021 air intakes are different and that you can buy filter kits for them on Amazon. But, not for the 2020s.

Never read they changed anything on the 2021 except for the Asian built models that come with bioweapon filtration. Got a link to the filter kits you are referring to?

 

[HeyEph]

Never read they changed anything on the 2021 except for the Asian built models that come with bioweapon filtration. Got a link to the filter kits you are referring to?

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B08Y8KT7YQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Midnightsun]

Stay clear of those, they fit both model 3 and Y 2020 and 2021. Those filter elements are much too restrictive and will cause issues. There were plenty of those on Aliexpress however the reviews basically complained about reduced air flow due to restrictions.

 

[HeyEph]

Stay clear of those, they fit both model 3 and Y 2020 and 2021. Those filter elements are much too restrictive and will cause issues. There were plenty of those on Aliexpress however the reviews basically complained about reduced air flow due to restrictions.

They do NOT fit the 2020 MY. I bought one and returned it.

 

[Midnightsun]

They do NOT fit the 2020 MY. I bought one and returned it.

Come to think of it I think the model 3 intake is different from the Y. Must be one the several items advertized to fit both 3 and Y when they only fit the 3. Good news is it did not fit as you would have been disappointed.

 

[LwlPeak]

this is great idea.
but i am worry that most of these filter are made for indoor temperatures.
they may not stand up well in very hot and very cold weather..
The foam may become brittle and break into small pieces or dust and got suck into the car.

Make sure you get the material that’s suitable.
There are aftermarket engine foam filter for ICE car. Modding one of those should work.

this comment needs more visibility. People in hot / humid climates. i.e sitting outside in a parking lot for 8 hours baking while at work.

 

[52 16 57 39]

I have similar furnace filter media cut to fit in my 2020 MY - but as a science teacher, the temperatures noted above make me wonder about skiing in the mountains and then baking 120-130F in a parking lot.

I may look into simple window screen media instead.

The other cabin filters can take care of the pollens and smaller particulates.

 

[Midnightsun]

I do not see the material braking up due to temps. That being said mine felt no different than new material when removed however it has only seen extreme cold temps so far, no real heat to speak of. Even if some did break off, it would simply get caught by the main filter just like all the crud that gets sucked in naturally.