For anyone considering: definitely worth it!
I’ve got a 2021 Model Y that just missed HEPA becoming standard. I live in an area that gets wildfire smoke, but there are also a lot of old vehicles and diesel trucks putt-puttering around town. I know from experience that wildfire smoke in the cabin is no fun, but breathing plumes of exhaust isn’t great either. I had hoped we’d at least be able block particulate matter, but I wasn’t expecting the new system to filter out smells so effectively… which I think means breathing less bad stuff.
For anyone unfamiliar: under the updated system, all incoming air goes through the HEPA/carbon filters before it even gets to the regular cabin air filter. Before the retrofit, the passenger in our car was always on recirc button duty. But since the retrofit we have literally not used recirc once. The only time we’ve smelled anything was when we drove through a section of road being filled and even then it was mild.
Other benefits:
- filters allergens
- should make cabin air filter last longer
- improves the moisture/stink issue (they say)
- improves resell value
We also have Bioweapon Defence Mode now which I’m expecting to be helpful in smoky conditions but, imo, just having default HEPA/carbon filters is incredibly valuable for daily use. It would be fascinating to see cabin air quality testing in more cars reviews.
I’m impressed that Tesla is offering this. Given that it took the mobile tech fifteen mins to install it, I can see how Tesla can make some money on it.
Cost: About $450 CAD with taxes ($325 USD) and took the mobile tech about fifteen minutes to install.
I’ve got a 2021 Model Y that just missed HEPA becoming standard. I live in an area that gets wildfire smoke, but there are also a lot of old vehicles and diesel trucks putt-puttering around town. I know from experience that wildfire smoke in the cabin is no fun, but breathing plumes of exhaust isn’t great either. I had hoped we’d at least be able block particulate matter, but I wasn’t expecting the new system to filter out smells so effectively… which I think means breathing less bad stuff.
For anyone unfamiliar: under the updated system, all incoming air goes through the HEPA/carbon filters before it even gets to the regular cabin air filter. Before the retrofit, the passenger in our car was always on recirc button duty. But since the retrofit we have literally not used recirc once. The only time we’ve smelled anything was when we drove through a section of road being filled and even then it was mild.
Other benefits:
- filters allergens
- should make cabin air filter last longer
- improves the moisture/stink issue (they say)
- improves resell value
We also have Bioweapon Defence Mode now which I’m expecting to be helpful in smoky conditions but, imo, just having default HEPA/carbon filters is incredibly valuable for daily use. It would be fascinating to see cabin air quality testing in more cars reviews.
I’m impressed that Tesla is offering this. Given that it took the mobile tech fifteen mins to install it, I can see how Tesla can make some money on it.
Cost: About $450 CAD with taxes ($325 USD) and took the mobile tech about fifteen minutes to install.
