How long does the rear defroster take to work for you?

[trond.strom]

Does Range Mode make a difference?

yes range mode makes a difference
with rangemode on its next to useless turn it off and its just slow

 

[pl804]

Could tinting make a difference?

 

[scottm]

..you know, rear defrosters are a BIG battery drain.... for BEV, skip it. I wouldn't care if my Model S had omitted the feature, I would still buy the car. I never use the button. And I live in frozen Canada!!

You don't even need to have a rear window, by law. So long as you have two side mirrors. Tint it all you like. Replace it with metal.

For frost / ice... using battery power is expensive, use a scraper outside instead before you drive.

Ask yourself if looking out the rear window clearly is a real needed? Or if looking through it foggy is 'good enough'. I let it fog up... I don't care. I can see headlight glare through it at night, or dark shapes in the day if there's a car behind. That's enough information. I'm a forward driver... the front glass is uber important, ..the rear, meh?

Tailgater? Hit the "go pedal" and anything behind you is now further behind you. Guaranteed. That's the beauty of these cars, you can just "buy" room in a couple seconds.

Use the rear camera if you want to see a little more back there. If something really interests you, like the wall you'll hit when backing up.

I would NEVER depend on rear window only for backing up the car. I would get out and clean the camera if it was mucky / foggy.

 

[AWDtsla]

..you know, rear defrosters are a BIG battery drain.... for BEV, skip it. I wouldn't care if my Model S had omitted the feature, I would still buy the car. I never use the button. And I live in frozen Canada!!

You don't even need to have a rear window, by law. So long as you have two side mirrors. Tint it all you like. Replace it with metal.

For frost / ice... using battery power is expensive, use a scraper outside instead before you drive.

Ask yourself if looking out the rear window clearly is a real needed? Or if looking through it foggy is 'good enough'. I let it fog up... I don't care. I can see headlight glare through it at night, or dark shapes in the day if there's a car behind. That's enough information. I'm a forward driver... the front glass is uber important, ..the rear, meh?

Tailgater? Hit the "go pedal" and anything behind you is now further behind you. Guaranteed. That's the beauty of these cars, you can just "buy" room in a couple seconds.

Use the rear camera if you want to see a little more back there. If something really interests you, like the wall you'll hit when backing up.

I would NEVER depend on rear window only for backing up the car. I would get out and clean the camera if it was mucky / foggy.

WTF Man. Another guy that never uses his rear view mirror.

FAIL

 

[AWDtsla]

Been really enjoying my Model S for the past month I've had it, but now summer has left Seattle and the morning mists have started arriving, completely blanketing my car in dew (I have to park outside for now). I'm kind of missing my rear windshield wiper on my old car. Ideally the rear defroster would help here, but I find it takes close to 15 minutes before it has a noticeable effect (even while driving). Sure, in the mean time I rely on the rear camera when backing out of the driveway, but I'd still like to be able to see out the rear windshield.

Is this a common problem for others? Any recommendations?

One thing I'd love to see that might help here is the ability to turn on the defrosters from the phone app. At least then I can turn them on 15 minutes before driving out.

The defroster is not for boiling off dew on the exterior. It's for defogging the interior and melting off ice on the exterior. Works just like the rear window defroster in any other car I've owned. What you really want is a rear wiper.

 

[rolson1011]

The defroster is not for boiling off dew on the exterior. It's for defogging the interior and melting off ice on the exterior. Works just like the rear window defroster in any other car I've owned. What you really want is a rear wiper.

Basically this. I use the rear defogger mostly because my mirrors will tend to fog over first, and its the way to turn on the mirror heaters. After the 30sec they are usually cleared. I probably would use it sparingly if I were on a long range drive, but typically my standard 220 mi 80% charge is plenty to do my day to day. Power is cheap, safety is not.

 

[scottm]

WTF Man. Another guy that never uses his rear view mirror.

FAIL

FAIL FAIL.

Respectfully, dude, nowhere in my post does it say I don't use my rear view mirror. For you to suggest "never uses his rear view mirror" is even a further stretch. You can get people into trouble making leaps like that.

This is why witnesses on the stand are so unreliable. Even with print in front of them to read... to come up with a conclusion like that is ..fabricated.

I have 3 rear view mirrors. I use all of them. Nothing I posted suggested otherwise. You quoted me, now read it again, carefully.

But this is a car forum, not court. So I don't really care - just everyone please be careful next time you're called for jury duty.

 

[AWDtsla]

FAIL FAIL.

Respectfully, dude, nowhere in my post does it say I don't use rear view mirror.

This is why witnesses on the stand are so unreliable. Even with print in front of them to read... to come up with a conclusion like that is ..fabricated. Read it again.

I have 3 rear view mirrors. I use all of them. Nothing I posted suggested otherwise.

To see what? blobs of shapes which would otherwise qualify as worse than legally blind? You said "..the rear, meh?". Yeah, that window is there for a good reason.

 

[scottm]

..we all know the reason for having a rear window, it's to have some place to put the defroster so it can be listed as a feature on the spec sheet!