Miraculous air conditioning

[Dan Utah]

have had my x for a few days. I assumed that I would be blasting the ac all summer because that's what I do with my ice car.

we have had many sunny days in a row of around 100 degrees and I have only had the fan on about half way and I have been very comfortable.

why is the model x the closest car I have ever owned by a long shot?

are all electric cars this way?

how can this be possible for a car without the sunshade with a gigantic windshield to be that cold in the summer?

 

[malcolm]

More power available in the AC system compared to your previous vehicle (?)

 

[bob_p]

We have a new 7 passenger X.

One interesting feature - the rear A/C only runs if the software detects someone in the back 2 rows.

So if you only have people in the first row, all of the A/C is going to the front.

Of course, that means no A/C is going to the back of the car - which should be warmer than the front - not sure if that will have an overall impact for the driver and front passenger...

 

[jlmbsn]

have had my x for a few days. I assumed that I would be blasting the ac all summer because that's what I do with my ice car.

we have had many sunny days in a row of around 100 degrees and I have only had the fan on about half way and I have been very comfortable.

why is the model x the closest car I have ever owned by a long shot?

are all electric cars this way?

how can this be possible for a car without the sunshade with a gigantic windshield to be that cold in the summer?

We live in South Florida and we had the X for 24 hours... and we were impressed with how cool it stayed. One of the many reasons we finally ordered!

 

[X Fan]

We have a new 7 passenger X.

One interesting feature - the rear A/C only runs if the software detects someone in the back 2 rows.

So if you only have people in the first row, all of the A/C is going to the front.

Of course, that means no A/C is going to the back of the car - which should be warmer than the front - not sure if that will have an overall impact for the driver and front passenger...

FYI, you can bypass that setting and cool/heat the entire vehicle.

 

[bob_p]

FYI, you can bypass that setting and cool/heat the entire vehicle.

True, though the default setting focuses the A/C on the front - and likely has some energy savings benefit.

 

[jboy210]

One factor is the compressor is electric powered like your house, not belt driven off the engine. So regardless if you are idling or going 60 mph down the highway the system is cooling the same. There is no need to get the A/C and airflow "up to speed" to get cold air coming out the vents like you do in many ICE cars. You can hear this when you start your Tesla on a hot day and you hear the roar of the condensor fans even backing out of your garage. That is the sound of cold air coming at you!

 

[deonb]

are all electric cars this way?

No, the A/C on the S and X works remarkably well. The Leaf isn't as good, the Model 3 isn't either.

So it's not a general EV thing - you just own a great car .

 

[Anzir]

That's good to hear. I test drove a P100D here in the Florida heat and it never felt like it cooled down the car during my short drive. It was a 5-seater.

 

[DCGOO]

The X has vastly larger internal volume, with a lot more glass. It will take longer to cool down a hot X than a hot S. BUT you can turn the A/C on before you get in the car (smartphone app), and leave it running after you get out. I leave mine on cool (or heat) almost all the time.

 

[mxnym]

The X has vastly larger internal volume, with a lot more glass. It will take longer to cool down a hot X than a hot S. BUT you can turn the A/C on before you get in the car (smartphone app), and leave it running after you get out. I leave mine on cool (or heat) almost all the time.

OP was talking about how amazing the AC is, sounds like you're in my camp and not so impressed with it. If I want to be comfortable, I need to turn it on 30 minutes before I drive when parked in the sun at temperatures much lower than the 100 degrees F mentioned by OP. However, this may because I want my feet and head to be cool, OP may just be enjoying the very cold air blowing only on his chest while I'm hardly feeling cool air at all and my configuration says "AC limited by settings" because it can't cool the spaces I want it to.

 

[Struja]

OP was talking about how amazing the AC is, sounds like you're in my camp and not so impressed with it. If I want to be comfortable, I need to turn it on 30 minutes before I drive when parked in the sun at temperatures much lower than the 100 degrees F mentioned by OP. However, this may because I want my feet and head to be cool, OP may just be enjoying the very cold air blowing only on his chest while I'm hardly feeling cool air at all and my configuration says "AC limited by settings" because it can't cool the spaces I want it to.

I don't have an X rather an S and I am notorious for liking it very cool and I find my S's AC system inferior to most ICE cars. My wife has an RX350 and while I prefer my S over her car 1000000 times over, I would have to concede that her AC is significantly better than mine. She also has perforated leather seats that blow cold air out of them which again, is vastly better than my seats which get tremendously hot.

Although, many of you have pointed out, I have the option of cooling my car before I get to it and she does not.

 

[newtpootywinkl]

Late March 2018 100D - service center appt next week because the AC blows hot air. Good for weight loss in the summer in So Cal. Like hot yoga without the yoga.

 

[newtpootywinkl]

Quick follow up to my last, tongue-in-cheek post about failing ac in my X. The system never really cooled the car well and I thought it was just one of the realities of the car. I was investigating heat reducing window tints and other possible mitigation when I saw this thread and made the joke. Went out to my car yesterday morning after posting and was greeted with an alert: Limited A/C and battery cooling. Contact Tesla Service.

Bad of course because the cabin cooling and battery cooling systems are connected. Took the car in immediately and they diagnosed failing o-rings which were replaced. Had the car back a few hours later and the air conditioning works great. The coolant had been leaking and as the system started failing the car was diverting the cool air to the battery pack.

If you find the ac to be lacking might be worth a trip to the service center.

 

[jboy210]

That's good to hear. I test drove a P100D here in the Florida heat and it never felt like it cooled down the car during my short drive. It was a 5-seater.

The 5 seater has either fewer vents, blower motors or compressors depending upon what you read. The bottom line is that it does not cool as well as the 6 and 7 seaters. The option description on the 6 and 7 seater options lists "Rear A/C and heating unit included".

 

[mxnym]

The 5 seater has either fewer vents, blower motors or compressors depending upon what you read. The bottom line is that it does not cool as well as the 6 and 7 seaters. The option description on the 6 and 7 seater options lists "Rear A/C and heating unit included".

My understanding from reading and experience (I have a 7 seater) is that the third row has a separate compressor and separate vents. That is to say the 5 seater doesn't come with third row vents or a separate compressor. Because of this, the rear settings are specifically for the third row, but when the first row is on, the second row is on. When rear is set to auto, the third row only turns on when occupants are detected in the third row. When it is set to on or off, it specifically controls the third row. I shouldn't expect this to affect the driver much, and still suspect that the difference in opinions on the A/C comes from differing expectations (as I stated in my previous post, I am disappointed with the performance in Indiana).

 

[mknox]

One interesting feature - the rear A/C only runs if the software detects someone in the back 2 rows..

FYI, you can bypass that setting and cool/heat the entire vehicle.

My understanding from reading and experience (I have a 7 seater) is that the third row has a separate compressor and separate vents.

It's not a separate compressor, but I believe there is a separate evaporator in the loop. I was sitting in a parking lot yesterday with the front a/c on (about 97 F outside) and was playing around with the rear settings. When I turned on the rear a/c manually, I could hear the compressor under the hood spool up faster, and when I turned the rear a/c off, the compressor slowed back down again.

 

[mxnym]

It's not a separate compressor, but I believe there is a separate evaporator in the loop. I was sitting in a parking lot yesterday with the front a/c on (about 97 F outside) and was playing around with the rear settings. When I turned on the rear a/c manually, I could hear the compressor under the hood spool up faster, and when I turned the rear a/c off, the compressor slowed back down again.

That actually makes a lot more sense considering they do the same thing in post-construction with mini-split units. I can also see people who don't understand the components thinking there is a separate compressor because there is a separate drip from a separate evaporator.

 

[XwingTom]

OP was talking about how amazing the AC is, sounds like you're in my camp and not so impressed with it. If I want to be comfortable, I need to turn it on 30 minutes before I drive when parked in the sun at temperatures much lower than the 100 degrees F mentioned by OP. However, this may because I want my feet and head to be cool, OP may just be enjoying the very cold air blowing only on his chest while I'm hardly feeling cool air at all and my configuration says "AC limited by settings" because it can't cool the spaces I want it to.

Really? My June 2018 X100D can get the cabin down from 100 F to about 70 F in just a few minutes. Nevertheless, I’m getting ceramic tint j stalled all around to reduce the amount of AC needed.

 

[Saghost]

My understanding from reading and experience (I have a 7 seater) is that the third row has a separate compressor and separate vents. That is to say the 5 seater doesn't come with third row vents or a separate compressor. Because of this, the rear settings are specifically for the third row, but when the first row is on, the second row is on. When rear is set to auto, the third row only turns on when occupants are detected in the third row. When it is set to on or off, it specifically controls the third row. I shouldn't expect this to affect the driver much, and still suspect that the difference in opinions on the A/C comes from differing expectations (as I stated in my previous post, I am disappointed with the performance in Indiana).

Second row is an odd mix. There are a pair of vents that are in the back of the center console, which are tied to the front HVAC and blow air when it is on even if the rear system is off. On my six seat car, there are also a pair of second row vents built into the B pillars, which are hooked to the rear system and don't blow air unless it is on.