Has there been any official word from anybody at Tesla about how they're handling this issue?
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Has there been any official word from anybody at Tesla about how they're handling this issue?
NigelM
Recovering Member
Curious, we've had temperatures in the 90's and interior car temps regularly reach well over 100F (showed 128F the other day) when it's parked in the sun; however, the handle temperatures haven't been worthy of measurement yet.
The sun is already mostly directly overhead at the hottest part of the day, same for AZ?
Yep . . . same for AZ. At the time I measured the temp, the handles were in direct sunlight. The local service mgr is aware and said that he would pass on the concern to his superiors.
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
Obviously some handles have been redesigned to have a coolant loop, transferring the heat to a Stirling engine, that recharges the pack :wink:
At this point, I'd still say, mine are hot to touch, but not too hot to handle (pun intended). And this was after it was sitting in direct PHX sunlight for an hour and half.
Also, I thoguht I read somewhere that the handles are where internal air would vent out of the car if you run the AC or heat. So, if you pre-cool, that might cool the handles down some prior to being handled? Not sure if this is true. But worth giving a try. You likely want to pre-cool the car anyways nowadays.
I find this the case when parking with the handles in direct sunlight also. If I hold the handles for 10 seconds it is hot, but to open the door it doesn't seem to be a problem, even when taking my time to open the door.
Oddly, we've had some hot days since, and that day was the only day where my fingers got burned. There have been days when I wanted to open the door quickly because the handles were uncomfortably hot, but no other days where the handles damaged my skin.
I wonder if wind helps. Maybe the day I got burned there was no wind to cool the handles? or does the sun need to hit the handles at exactly the wrong angle?
Anyway, sun + warm day doesn't seem to be the whole story. There's another factor.
GlennAlanBerry
Member
I purposely left my Model S parked in the sun for a couple of hours when it got to 87 F yesterday here in Parker (at 6000 ft. altitude), and the door handles were not hot at all. I am not too worried about this "big issue"...
I've noticed the same thing (probably not surprising since we're in the same location). There've been 90 degree days where having the handles in the sun doesn't seem to do anything and 80 degree days where they were uncomfortably hot.
Thankfully, my driveway doesn't seem to be one of the locations that triggers the hot handles.
I have found the angle of the sun and car has the most affect. I live/work in the Mojave Desert and I now park pointing south instead of north. When I was parking pointing north, the late afternoon sunshine would would make the drivers side handles very hot.... I am talking painful for minutes hot not just open it quick hot. Now I just need to warn passengers on the right side...
As I noted, there's another factor other than 87 F and sun (I'm still guessing it's wind). Just because they didn't get hot once doesn't mean that it's not a big issue.
Out of 18 days this year over 80° F and 4 days this year over 90° F (in Morgan Hill, CA), I'd say my handle experience (parking my car in a parking spot facing West) is roughly:
1 day: #$%^! I just burned my fingers. and I didn't even get the door open. This is a huge issue!
2 days: This door handle is hot! I need to let go quickly! This is annoying!
5 days: This door handle is a bit uncomfortable. I'll open it quickly. A fix would be nice.
other days: not an issue. Some days with the temperature in the 90s fall into this category.
Yes, this seems to be an issue that all car manufacturers face from time to time, as the old engineers that know about this stuff retire, and the Fisher-Price generation of engineers take their place and have to learn this kind of stuff all over again.
(Well, it wasn't Ford's fault) that my buddy's mom owned a 1960 Ford Thunderbird, black-on-black. As kids, we got shuttled to and from the lake practically daily. At the end of the afternoon, the standard chrome handle was burnin' hot! Needed the beach towel just to open the door, and stand back as the waves of heat rolled out. After waiting several minutes with the doors open and the windows down, it was deemed non-lethal to enter, but hardly safe. We nearly got 2nd degree burns just sitting in the back seat. Cushioned frying pans, they were.
It was the 1964-65 Ford Mustang (!) that used a gear shift knob made out of plastic, with a metal placard on top to indicate the shift pattern. Nothing earth-moving there, except the plastic was rated to "only" 160 degrees. Well, let me tell you, there are indeed some locales in Texas where a summer day might reach 110 degrees in the shade. And the cabin temp of those Mustangs became hot enough to *melt* the gearshift knob when the sun could reach that metal placard and help things along.
My 1980 Mazda RX-7 was a fishbowl on wheels. It was a rolling solar Easy-Bake oven. Had to get louvers over the rear glass hatchback, tint the side windows, crack the sunroof open, and drape a towel over the sheering wheel while parked to make it bearable when I returned. The wimpy air conditioner would -barely- made a dent in the summertime. At least the handles were touchable.
So it takes a couple of tries for an auto manufacturer to really believe that there are places in the world that exceed 120 degrees, that cars left in the sun can reach temperatures hot enough to cook food, that an air conditioner really needs to have the capacity to cool a cabin to less than 80 degrees in less than 2 minutes, and the "cool" air from the dashboard vents comes into the car by passing through the engine compartment and is 10 degrees warmer then air coming in from the window. (Okay, so Tesla doesn't have to worry so much about that last one.)
-- Ardie
And we haven't even mentioned places like Dubai...
(Well, it wasn't Ford's fault) that my buddy's mom owned a 1960 Ford Thunderbird, black-on-black. As kids, we got shuttled to and from the lake practically daily. At the end of the afternoon, the standard chrome handle was burnin' hot! Needed the beach towel just to open the door, and stand back as the waves of heat rolled out. After waiting several minutes with the doors open and the windows down, it was deemed non-lethal to enter, but hardly safe. We nearly got 2nd degree burns just sitting in the back seat. Cushioned frying pans, they were.
It was the 1964-65 Ford Mustang (!) that used a gear shift knob made out of plastic, with a metal placard on top to indicate the shift pattern. Nothing earth-moving there, except the plastic was rated to "only" 160 degrees. Well, let me tell you, there are indeed some locales in Texas where a summer day might reach 110 degrees in the shade. And the cabin temp of those Mustangs became hot enough to *melt* the gearshift knob when the sun could reach that metal placard and help things along.
My 1980 Mazda RX-7 was a fishbowl on wheels. It was a rolling solar Easy-Bake oven. Had to get louvers over the rear glass hatchback, tint the side windows, crack the sunroof open, and drape a towel over the sheering wheel while parked to make it bearable when I returned. The wimpy air conditioner would -barely- made a dent in the summertime. At least the handles were touchable.
So it takes a couple of tries for an auto manufacturer to really believe that there are places in the world that exceed 120 degrees, that cars left in the sun can reach temperatures hot enough to cook food, that an air conditioner really needs to have the capacity to cool a cabin to less than 80 degrees in less than 2 minutes, and the "cool" air from the dashboard vents comes into the car by passing through the engine compartment and is 10 degrees warmer then air coming in from the window. (Okay, so Tesla doesn't have to worry so much about that last one.)
-- Ardie
And we haven't even mentioned places like Dubai...
For you, it probably won't be. For those in much hotter climates, it looks like it is.
My Nissan Leaf Forum View topic - Early Capacity Losses-Was(Lost a bar...down to 11) has example Phoenix temps from a Phoenician Facebook friend.
My Nissan Leaf Forum View topic - Early Capacity Losses-Was(Lost a bar...down to 11) mentioned "FYI: During the summer peak, temperatures might get DOWN to 85F just before dawn."
In Phoenix, we can go weeks where the temp never drops below 90. I don't mean the high temp, but the low. So, for 20 days/nights straight, the temp is 90 or above.
That said, as I've noted in my posts, my handles have yet to reach a temp that would cause me to exclaim the title of this thread.
That said, as I've noted in my posts, my handles have yet to reach a temp that would cause me to exclaim the title of this thread.
Vger
Active Member
Exactly what I was hoping someone would do-- document! I think this info needs to get to Tesla ASAP!
spatterso911
P100DL - Raven
Very hot day today, internal temps reached 125 degrees while I was at the range. One thing was for certain, though...door handles were not hot at all.
Sent via Tapatalk
Sent via Tapatalk
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
Has anyone correlated VIN's with handle heat? Just a quick scan seems to indicate earlier VIN's are experiencing the hot handles and later VIN's are not.
was about 70° one day last week with no wind and the handle was uncomfortably hot.
was about 90° a couple days ago with a stiff breeze and the handle was just slightly warm.
Amusingly, the only day I burned my fingers was like back in March. Now that it's getting to the warm season, the sun heats up the land, pulling a noticeable Northwest wind off of the Bay (yeah, I'm 20+ miles from the Bay, but the Coast and Diablo mountain ranges meet near Morgan Hill creating a nice wind amplifier and sending my power consumption up to 400 Wh/mile).
I'm becoming more and more convinced that the handles won't burn your fingers if there's a decent breeze outside.
Similar threads
- Solved
