Is there a way just to let some natural air in without the windows?

[EVchiq]

Hi, I am in a black tesla, and it is really cold outside, but the interior still gets really hot because it is black.

Is there a way to just let the outside air come in through the filter and into the cabin, that is, just to get some fresh air in through the outside without turning on the ac and without obviously opening the windows

 

[Darren F]

Sure. Just turn the fan on with the AC off.

 

[sleepydoc]

Agreed - if you open the climate control settings you'll see a recirculation button. As long as it's not checked it should be taking in fresh air. (now don't ask me which color is on vs off for the button - that's anyone's guess)

 

[gt2690b]

Agreed - if you open the climate control settings you'll see a recirculation button. As long as it's not checked it should be taking in fresh air. (now don't ask me which color is on vs off for the button - that's anyone's guess)

it will either be grey, blue, or white

 

[bay74]

Note that the heater might come on unless you set the temperature to "LO" though, wasting energy. Doing that will switch the AC back on, though, stupidly, meaning that you'll have to switch the AC off again.

Then when you want AC again once it warms up, you'll have to set the temperature back to where you want it or it'll go nuts trying to achieve "LO" if you use Automatic mode. Could avoid some of this daft behaviour if we just had a Heater button (like the AC button).

Then if you want the fan to stay running (but not the AC or heater) when you leave the vehicle (e.g. to go into a shop for a bit), the 'leave climate on' DOES NOT leave the climate on, it engages Auto mode and changes all the settings except the temperature. So you can't just leave the fans running with no AC or heat. Utter stupidity.

I have very little positive to say about the climate system in the Tesla.

 

[sleepydoc]

Note that the heater might come on unless you set the temperature to "LO" though, wasting energy. Doing that will switch the AC back on, though, stupidly, meaning that you'll have to switch the AC off again.

Then when you want AC again once it warms up, you'll have to set the temperature back to where you want it or it'll go nuts trying to achieve "LO" if you use Automatic mode. Could avoid some of this daft behaviour if we just had a Heater button (like the AC button).

Then if you want the fan to stay running (but not the AC or heater) when you leave the vehicle (e.g. to go into a shop for a bit), the 'leave climate on' DOES NOT leave the climate on, it engages Auto mode and changes all the settings except the temperature. So you can't just leave the fans running with no AC or heat. Utter stupidity.

I have very little positive to say about the climate system in the Tesla.

Tesla’s not alone in this - I’ve driven several cars with automatic climate control systems that act similarly and have no true ‘manual’ mode.

 

[Mourron]

Note that the heater might come on unless you set the temperature to "LO" though, wasting energy. Doing that will switch the AC back on, though, stupidly, meaning that you'll have to switch the AC off again.

Then when you want AC again once it warms up, you'll have to set the temperature back to where you want it or it'll go nuts trying to achieve "LO" if you use Automatic mode. Could avoid some of this daft behaviour if we just had a Heater button (like the AC button).

Then if you want the fan to stay running (but not the AC or heater) when you leave the vehicle (e.g. to go into a shop for a bit), the 'leave climate on' DOES NOT leave the climate on, it engages Auto mode and changes all the settings except the temperature. So you can't just leave the fans running with no AC or heat. Utter stupidity.

I have very little positive to say about the climate system in the Tesla.

Don't forget if auto mode is blowing air in your face, and you try to change the direction, you have to turn auto OFF. Then, turning it back on completely reverts to whatever vents the algorithm THINKS you want, which is usually cold air in the face.

How DARE I think I know where I want the air to blow! Maybe I want to have the temp at AUTO, but blowing in a certain way? Nope, the car does whatever it wants.

 

[AlexHung]

Don't forget if auto mode is blowing air in your face, and you try to change the direction, you have to turn auto OFF. Then, turning it back on completely reverts to whatever vents the algorithm THINKS you want, which is usually cold air in the face.

How DARE I think I know where I want the air to blow! Maybe I want to have the temp at AUTO, but blowing in a certain way? Nope, the car does whatever it wants.

I run mine on Auto 100% of the time and have no problem changing where the air is blown

 

[Madsen203]

I run mine on Auto 100% of the time and have no problem changing where the air is blown

Same! It seems like most of these people should go back to driving a 1980s Ford probe where they can have all the manual cruise control, Hvac, windows, and wiper controls.

 

[stopcrazypp]

Tesla’s not alone in this - I’ve driven several cars with automatic climate control systems that act similarly and have no true ‘manual’ mode.

Me too. Tesla is simply following the Car AC paradigm, which is that there is no manual heat mode. In my very old car, I also had to annoyingly turn the temp slider all the way to coldest just to get fan-only operation, otherwise heat may turn on depending on outside temp. There was no way to permanently turn off heat independently.

I wish Tesla and other EVs switch to a home AC paradigm, where you can easily switch between heat, fan-only or AC. Only difference is allowing heat and AC to be on at same time. There is no need to follow traditional car convention, given heat in EVs is another extra load like AC, it's not simply waste heat from.the engine.

 

[sleepydoc]

Same! It seems like most of these people should go back to driving a 1980s Ford probe where they can have all the manual cruise control, Hvac, windows, and wiper controls.

To be honest, I miss manual cruise control and climate control at times. On pleasant days, it was nice to be able to just open the vents and let the cool are come into the cabin without the noise and buffeting of open windows, and Tesla's TACC is pretty crappy to be honest. I'm loathe to say it but my sister had a 2012 Toyota Prius that had better adaptive cruise control than Tesla does. Our 2020 Forester also has better cruise control.

 

[Madsen203]

To be honest, I miss manual cruise control and climate control at times. On pleasant days, it was nice to be able to just open the vents and let the cool are come into the cabin without the noise and buffeting of open windows, and Tesla's TACC is pretty crappy to be honest. I'm loathe to say it but my sister had a 2012 Toyota Prius that had better adaptive cruise control than Tesla does. Our 2020 Forester also has better cruise control.

It may be location dependent but where I’m at in the Bay Area, TACC performs 90% or better which is acceptable. Where it doesn’t perform, I generally take over as it’s areas with higher risk drivers.

I have used Auto AC function for the last 7 years and enjoy it. Going to a rheostat heating control is annoying to constantly adjust as opposed to upping or dropping 1-2 degrees.

 

[bay74]

I run mine on Auto 100% of the time and have no problem changing where the air is blown

I suspect that what Mourron was trying to say was that if you select a different output ... area, like the foot zone or the windscreen zone, then Auto de-activates. Moving the direction of the in-your-face vents doesn't de-activate Auto, but try turning on the foot or windscreen zones and you'll probably see that Auto de-activates.

I agree with Mourron that this is dumb behaviour.

 

[bay74]

I wish Tesla and other EVs switch to a home AC paradigm

Maybe with an acceptable temperature RANGE between which no heat nor AC would be used, like a home thermostat-controlled AC system allows? Could always have a 'dehumidify' mode also, like my home AC.

 

[sleepydoc]

It may be location dependent but where I’m at in the Bay Area, TACC performs 90% or better which is acceptable. Where it doesn’t perform, I generally take over as it’s areas with higher risk drivers.

I have used Auto AC function for the last 7 years and enjoy it. Going to a rheostat heating control is annoying to constantly adjust as opposed to upping or dropping 1-2 degrees.

I haven't been able to determine a correlation with location, but IME Tesla's TACC brakes 100% of the time it needs to but then an additional 10% of the time it doesn't. Random times when the road is completely clear it will suddenly slow down. It's annoying if you're driving, tends to jerk you around more and make for a choppy ride, and is really annoying to people behind you.

Of all the other cars I've driven I've never had phantom braking be a problem, even once. Not in our 2020 Forester or in my sisters's Prius, or in rental cars I've had, so I wouldn't call 90% 'acceptable,' I'd call it unacceptable. (Edit: are you talking about TACC or autopilot/FSD?)

In the wintertime in MN, auto heating is nice - you can set it and the fan will turn on when the engine's warmed up. That's not an issue with Teslas since they use a heat pump and I've virtually never had to turn the heat down in the winter because the cabin never gets that warm. The thing I've realized with automatic climate control is you always have to fiddle with it regardless. When you're driving, the cabin temp is only one part of the equation - if the sun is shining straight in the windshield you will feel hotter and need cooler air and/or more air blowing on you. If you turn so the sun's behind you you're suddenly not as hot. In the winter time the windows will start to fog up so you need to turn on the defroster (don't get me started on the idiot who hid the defroster controls!) or your feet will get cold so you need to adjust the vents to blow on your feet.

in the end, I've found auto climate control to be a mixed bag. Often times it's nice but I still end up fiddling with the controls pretty frequently and it can actually make things more difficult at times.

 

[paulsp3]

To be honest, I miss manual cruise control and climate control at times. On pleasant days, it was nice to be able to just open the vents and let the cool are come into the cabin without the noise and buffeting of open windows, and Tesla's TACC is pretty crappy to be honest. I'm loathe to say it but my sister had a 2012 Toyota Prius that had better adaptive cruise control than Tesla does. Our 2020 Forester also has better cruise control.

I totally agree, the car has enough nannies. Not looking to raise or lower temps just want some fresh air without consuming energy. A major reason for this is to keep the AC evaporator dry. I bought the car used (10 months old), when the AC was turned on it smelled like dirty socks. $125 later its now fine but I know the consequences of leaving condensation moisture in the AC system and I don't want it. Fresh air should be allowed to flow through the system unless the recirculate button is selected.

 

[Benito1283]

If you have the HVAC temp set below the interior temp, AND the outside temp is below your target temp, AND you don't have AC selected, it will actually disable/gray out the recirculate button and force fresh air intake. I noticed this in my car in a similar situation as you're describing and was really pleased that they thought of this. So yes - that will just pull fresh air in from outside to cool down the cabin w/o AC.