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glass roof - production change (July 2018)?
- Thread starter gzzn
- Start date
chronopc
Active Member
Was yours a May 2018 production too?No, I think a lot of us got that type of glass too.
It seems they have at least 3 types of rear glass:
#1: "Orange reflective" coating on whole window.
#2: "Orange reflecting" coating on only front ~2/3.
#3: No "orange refelctive" coating at all.
You can see the "2/3" coating on my car and another car in this photo:
ℬête Noire
Active Member
"Iterate fast." - Battle Cry of Silicon Valley
They might have tried the first step for a while then decided it was better to just do the whole window sans reflective coating. They may have found the upper reflective wasn't buying them much? It'd be interesting to know if the underlying glass of the half-way pane was also absorption glass? If it was they might have found the reflective film wasn't adding value.
We know the colors were Elon's surprise gift for the line waiters on Day 1
Back on page 9, I applied reasoning from first principles to deduce that the red/orange effect was likely due to an IR reflection layer (and not a UV protection layer). I also suggested reflection was more desirable than absorption because absorption could heat the glass, causing new IR radiation into the cabin and a bit of convection with the air in the cabin. I'm going to give Tesla the benefit of the doubt that the net effect of switching from reflective to absorptive is negligible from a cabin heat perspective, but you do lose out on a really cool effect that most cars don't have.
There is not a half-glass version, or 2/3 version, or 60% version. As I posted on page 10, I sprayed mist across the factory tint threshold, and depending on the viewing angle, the orange color extends across the entire glass, or it completely disappears above the untinted portion. Which means the entire glass is IR treated but only appears to be partially treated depending on the ambient lighting and where you were standing when you took the pic.
And people with aftermarket tint saw a much more uniform orange effect, so the tint of the underlying glass enhances the orange effect.
ℬête Noire
Active Member
@novox77 The part about seemingly 60% cover actually being 100% but at a different angle/different conditions strikes me as entirely plausible. In those pictures on the last page you'll see that there is a mirror effect going on on the bottom portion too, but it's whitish. White light is a mixture that contains red as a component, so it's possible that the red reflection is just getting swamped by higher frequency wavelengths on the bottom so isn't obvious.
I've mentioned it up thread, this is potential in the summer although once your vehicle is moving the passing air will help tip the balance towards outward heat loss. On the other hand this is actually something that can be be desirable in the winter. The extra heat gathered in the glass can create a modest insulating effect. It's probably not a lot but given that A/C cooling (via a heatpump) is almost always much cheaper than heating (because it uses resistive heating), you don't need much to keep on the net benefit side of things in temperate zones.
Well, I don't know. I think I always see mine looking the same and don't recall ever seeing the whole thing look colored. Here are some other pics of my car when it was damp outside:
So what you are saying is that there is an IR reflective coating all over the whole thing, but some under tint only on part of it that changes how light reflects?
I have seen other Tesla where the whole window had the orange glow, but never seen the backmost part of mine do that.
You can clearly see a slight orange effect on the bottom part in the second picture you posted.
Well, I don't know. I think I always see mine looking the same and don't recall ever seeing the whole thing look colored. Here are some other pics of my car when it was damp outside:
So what you are saying is that there is an IR reflective coating all over the whole thing, but some under tint only on part of it that changes how light reflects?
I have seen other Tesla where the whole window had the orange glow, but never seen the backmost part of mine do that.
Yeah your second picture shows that even on the untinted bottom portion, the water is showing some diffraction (mostly yellow). Granted it looks different from the top part.
Several people in this thread have suggested that in the cases where the diffraction effect looks uniform across the entire glass, there is aftermarket tint applied that darkened the entire glass. I have not yet seen confirmation of any factory glass that shipped fully tinted. AFAIK, the lower part of the rear glass is always untinted from the factory.
If you ever get a chance to see another 3 where the whole rear glass has uniform-colored diffraction, check to see if that glass is tinted all the way to the bottom.
Can anyone verify if their rear glass was factory tinted all the way to the bottom? If so, that would indeed confirm that there are 3 factory variants of the rear glass.
I think that was the intended message.
And it makes sense to me. The dark tint, to reduce light in the visible wavelengths, that is present on the upper half of the rear glass piece but now not on the lower half, alters the reflectivity created by the IR blocking/absorbtion property of the glass.
insaneoctane
Well-Known Member
Is anyone else trying to figure out if Tesla is giving themselves wiggle room with their statement?
While on the surface of the statement it sounds equivalent, I am wondering if IR blocking might somehow be classified in their spec as something other than a thermal property (ie optical property)? I don't know, I just feel a bit uncertain still..
Given that S/X have really good IR repellant properties, and they never used an IR reflector coating, I'd say there's probably no reason to worry. Probably down to aesthetics at this point.
Now here's something to chew on: when Tesla starts offering a trim without the panoramic glass, will they use a metal roof or a blacked out glass roof? If metal, would they paint it black regardless of body color? or match with body? Is the rear glass still the same piece as the latest we've seen (no IR reflector)?
My hunch is that the rear glass change is intended to better match whatever they will use for the top part when there's no panorama glass, which would suggest either black metal, or black glass. From a distance, this still gives the appearance of a unified panorama.
Chak
Member
For those of you who are interested, here are my observations from looking at a few 3s, Ss, and Xs in Tesla Service Center parking lot over the weekend right after it rained.
3s - I did not check every single car in the lot, but all the cars I looked had orange shade on the front half of the glass roof. Rear side of glass roos was just dark with no glow. Most of the cars I saw were manufactured in either July or August.
Ss - Both front and rear glass roof had orange glow.
Xs - I saw 2 Xs side by side, one new and the other one older. Older model had orange glow on just top roof, both front and rear. Newer model had orange glow in the front windshield too, or in other words the entire glass roof plus front windshield had this glow.
Regardless, I am planning to tint all 4 windows plus rear half of glass top.
3s - I did not check every single car in the lot, but all the cars I looked had orange shade on the front half of the glass roof. Rear side of glass roos was just dark with no glow. Most of the cars I saw were manufactured in either July or August.
Ss - Both front and rear glass roof had orange glow.
Xs - I saw 2 Xs side by side, one new and the other one older. Older model had orange glow on just top roof, both front and rear. Newer model had orange glow in the front windshield too, or in other words the entire glass roof plus front windshield had this glow.
Regardless, I am planning to tint all 4 windows plus rear half of glass top.
The X and S have used roof glass that looks orange when wet. My X roof, built June 2017, has that kind of roof glass.
My Model 3, built August 2018 VIN 99XXX, has the orange appearance when wet only on the center roof glass piece. The rear glass piece does not have that appearance when wet.
I’m fine with it. The car is awesome.
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