Perspective is indeed important. All of us should minimize our footprint in this regard. Developed society lifestyles are definitely hugely wasteful on numerous fronts, but again, back to that perspective - as the rest of the world literally bakes in a warming planet, it’s hard to imagine something more needlessly wasteful and tone deaf than air conditioning an empty space.
Roger that. Except that people do it all the time. It's called "central air conditioning."
You leave your air conditioner on when you’re not in the house for “several weeks” at a time?
My thermostat is programmed to shut off the HVAC when I'm not home.
Some people seem to think that only heating or air conditioning rooms they're actively using saves a lot of energy, but unless you have insulation in your interior walls, it really doesn't save that much energy. For heating, it's really bad because these types of people tend to use electric space heaters which operate at a thermal efficiency of whatever the power plant was, minus transmission losses, instead of using a central heat pump or furnace, which is much more efficient.
I agree with this. It is well known that UV does tremendous damage to synthetic plastic materials, but plastics are usually quite resistant to heat. While all glass has some degree of UV protection, only the front windshield and roof glass are blocking 99% of UV. Side windows are not regulated for UV protection and may result in accumulated UV damage over time. Cabin overheat protection cannot protect against any UV damage because it only regulates the temperature. In my opinion, parking in shade, sunshades, or tint would all be more useful for protecting the car's interior. As for other cars, obviously dry heat damages leather but this is not a concern on the Model 3.
I disagree that American home HVAC usage is analogous to COP. There are lots of circumstances where setback would increase overall energy usage. More importantly, I don't think whataboutism is helpful when discussing this topic. Many Tesla owners have an interest in energy efficiency and mitigating climate change, and try to educate existing ICE owners on the fence. "But what about Taylor Swift's private jet?" is not a particularly constructive response. Having an educated discussion about whether COP is even necessary for the goals of protecting the car's interior is on-topic and useful discussion to be had.
On this subject, I'm surprised people didn't post the original suspected reason for COP.
The damage is caused by heat AND by the UV. I have already taken steps to abate the UV by applying window protection all around my car. This also helps keep the heat down and minimize the need for overheat protection.
And no one has suggested "air conditioning an empty space at all times" - it is about keeping the interior temperature to a less damaging level. Stop the hyperbole. When the interior rises over the 104°F (40°C) degree level, protective measures are taken. When it's not (which is most of the time), NOTHING HAPPENS!
If you don't want your car going over 40°C, then unless you're in a very hot desert, there's a very simple thing you can do: don't park in the sun.
There's an even better way: don't buy a car.
I do remember talk of dog mode being created to prevent super hot temps from causing the yellow banding and delamination in the LCD screen in Model S. Apparently early Model S screens were not automotive grade and prone to failure. This gave Tesla a way to mitigate the problem.
I hope so. However I tried to find out if Model 3/Y have automotive rated screens and was unable to get this answered. I suspect they are not.
Great link thanks.The 3 and Y screens are rated to 95c.
I am not aware of any instances of damage to anyone's 3 or Y from being parked in the sun. There have been hundreds of thousands sold and they have been on the road since July of 2017. We would be seeing melted screens everywhere by now if it was an issue.
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