Model 3 Black Interior Only == Not Good For Warm Climates

[insaneoctane]

Guys, most of what we have is speculation. We are in the void before the unveil and most of us are impatient and willing to speculate. Some speculation makes sense while other speculation seems quite counter intuitive. The debate in these forums is mostly around that. Does Trevor know for sure what he shared? Nope. I consider it a reasonable suggestion and personally believe it to be likely. Now, for me personally, my last 2 vehicles have had black leather and I live in Southern California where our summers have plenty of days over 90, but not much humidity. Black leather gets hot in the summer like most of my car. I don't think black leather should be a significant deterrent for most, but to each their own. While I understand black absorbs heat as a color, I don't think even scientific data showing me the average temperature and cool down period of various colors would change my experience based opinion that it's OK. The inside of a car gets hot. Any seat, thus, will get hot. Put up a sunshade. Hopefully the M3 has a strong AC and can cool down the interior fairly quickly. If you live in crazy climates, you might very well have a different scenario than me! I do expect to have a new option for cooling my M3 that I have never had before.... Remote cool down.

 

[EXOTIC1]

120 in Arizona today. No Black interior here

 

[Chris L]

It's not just the heat. For me, an all-black interior feels claustrophobic. A light-colored interior feels much more open. I certainly am not suggesting that a tan interior be the only color; I think we should have a choice. The Mercedes C-Class offers three standard interiors — black, beige, and light gray, and several wood trims (all standard, no extra cost for any of them).

 

[EXOTIC1]

I think you'll see
Black White Gray
for the roll out orders

 

[Zaphod]

It's not just the heat. For me, an all-black interior feels claustrophobic. A light-colored interior feels much more open. I certainly am not suggesting that a tan interior be the only color; I think we should have a choice. The Mercedes C-Class offers three standard interiors — black, beige, and light gray, and several wood trims (all standard, no extra cost for any of them).

You will have a choice, it just may not be the choice that gets built when you want it.

 

[smak]

You go through the Apple configurator for an Imac, and it starts out at delivery tomorrow. Then you say you want more memory or more storage from the preset config, or actually, any add-ons, it jumps to a June 30 delivery.

That's because the normal config is already sitting in stores, and anything added on, requires them to build it for you.

This is more than likely how Tesla will do it. They will make thousands of cars ready to just purchase. There will be 10 or 12 choices only, color and wheels, and if you say you want the other battery, your date will jump 6 weeks or 3 months.

They'll probably build more white and black than blue, since black and white is a more popular color than blue.

If black is the only one that has no extra charge, they'll probably make the most of those.

 

[hmmm]

You'll probably be able to turn on the a/c from the app like you can with the Model S/X. Seat color isn't really relevant if the cabin is cooled by the time you get to it anyway.

That. I have only had black everything interiors w/ pano and never had an issue even in 100F+ weather.

 

[SageBrush]

I understand black absorbs heat as a color

To a good first approximation, darker colors retain more heat than lighter colors if they are exposed to direct sunlight

A dark color in a garage will be the same temperature and have the same heat as a lighter color. This thread is missing the important point that owners of dark colored cars have to avoid direct sunlight -- one way or another.

 

[RayW]

Do you have the all glass roof? I'm interested to see how cool/hot it keeps a dark interior without aftermarket tints/films if anyone has experience (In a Tesla).

I have the panoramic roof. You can vent the roof while walking out to the car as well.

I thought about getting those roof shades from Amazon when I first took delivery, but the factory tint is pretty good at blocking the light & heat and I don't really feel the need for them now.

 

[Tummy]

Since we got EVs the past 4 years, I forgot what it's like to get into a hot car (or cold car in the winter). In our BMW i3, you can set timers for cabin preconditioning on a schedule. Our first EV was a Smart ED and also had cabin preconditioning, but only while plugged in.

The Tesla has a smart scheduler so it's ready by the time I leave for the office in the morning or on my way home. It works well if you have regular schedule since it learns your patterns. You can also run an app (VisibleTesla) on your computer to send the conditioning command on a schedule. Or initiate it from the Tesla phone app. Tesla also has the cabin overheat protection which keeps the cabin below the max temperature you set. I think it's 105 degrees or less. Tesla claims it can run for a year before it fully drains the battery. If you plug in every night at home and don't drive to the max range everyday, the extra power needed to keep the cabin comfortable shouldn't be a big deal.

I also found good window tint, 3m Crystalline or other good quality tint, really helps. You basically don't feel any heat from the windows with tint. I didn't tint our pano roof, but from the factory it blocks something like 97% of visible light and 99% of UV, not sure about IR, but I don't feel any heat from it.

 

[smak]

The steering wheel is always much hotter than my black seats.

Now, if I was wearing shorts, or I was a woman with shorts/dress on I can see it.

But I'd much rather have a solution for a boiling steering wheel.

 

[JimmyAZ]

I have an S85 with pano roof and black interior. There wasn't any issue until yesterday when we hit 120 degrees. Seriously, the roof rarely EVER shows any heat penetration. The AC is more than capable of handling the temps. It's funny how much people think black interiors are going to kill the owners, but honestly, if you owned a Tesla and lived with it you'd see that Elon's teams put a lot of thought and engineering into their glass and protection films.

 

[RedModel3]

Seat covers. I'll probably get some anyway, because I run a lot, and therefore sweat a lot. I had a car with cream colored seats, and they very quickly became discolored. I'm not going to let seat color keep me from ordering.

 

[Waiting4M3]

If a beige leather is available I would go for that, but if black leather is the only color available I would still get it. The glass tinting, combined with some sun shade and pre-cooling should help the temperature issue, and the expansive glass roof and low/uncluttered dash should give a feeling of openness. The black interior on the RC cars look nice. I wonder how the red RC spotted recently in Death Valley fared in the 122F weather. If black leather has any temperature issue, that would have exposed it.

 

[Petra]

Day 1 reservation. Light gray (like my S), white, or bust. I won't order a car with a black interior, I find most tan interiors hideous, and beige... beige is a color that belongs on a computer case from the early/mid 1990's.

Seriously, though, black interiors feel like I'm in a cave or something--it's not comfortable, inviting, or relaxing to be surrounded by a sea of nondescript black trim. I've had multiple all black Model S loaners (black interior/dash trim/headliner) and I really disliked them. That said, I'm also not a fan of interior configuration options being removed for the Model S... gray is gone, you're now forced into the black headliner if you want white seats (which is much less of an issue now that the all glass roof is standard), white seats are only available with the awful gloss dark ash dash trim or boy racer carbon fiber, you can't choose not to have that useless center console, etc.

On the heat front, even with preconditioning, the black interiors are hotter. Direct sunlight heats the black surfaces significantly and it takes the preconditioning much longer to reduce the temperature of the surfaces than the cabin air. Said hot surfaces continue dumping heat into the interior, making your drive less comfortable unless you remembered to precondition well in advance of heading out to your car. Parking in the shade is one way to mitigate this problem, but I live in the Antelope Valley--there isn't much shade here.

 

[Mr X]

Lol

If you guys can't handle the temperatures on Earth how are you going to handle the temps when we get to Mars?!

The way I deal with temperature is the thought of cliche sayings "It is what it is", "suck it up" and "deal with it".

My Volt is black on black with tinted windows and it boils but I just get in and I'm like whatever, it will cool down eventually. The human body is perplexingly designed to regulate heat.

Now, I'm never going to get a black car again but I'll continue to get black interior. I like the feeling of being immersed in a dark cabin.

 

[AngelArm1110]

Do they mean the headliner will also be black?

 

[ProphetM]

Do they mean the headliner will also be black?

Judging by what we can see of the A-pillar covering, probably not.

 

[Tech_Guy]

tint the windows with a quality heat reducing ceramic tint like 3m Crystaline.... problem solved

3M™ Automotive Window Film Crystalline Series

Details

• A clear breakthrough in automotive window films. The Crystalline Series rejects more heat than many dark films without changing the appearance of your vehicle, making it the superior choice for comfort.
• Light tint rejects up to 60% of solar energy and up to 97% of heat-producing infrared rays for the ultimate in comfort.
• Designed to enhance your view by allowing visible light into your vehicle while keeping heat out, so you can see clearly and safely.
• Non-metallized window film lets you stay connected with mobile devices, GPS or satellite radio reception without interference.
• Blocks up to 99% of ultraviolet (UV) light to provide a total Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of 1000 for you and your passengers.
• Sold and installed by 3M Authorized Dealer Installers, our films are durable, virtually maintenance-free and backed by a limited lifetime warranty.

The Crystalline Series features a proprietary, multilayer optical film nano-technology that combines over 200 layers in a film that is thinner than a Post-it® Note. Improving comfort, protecting vehicle interiors and blocking UV rays are hallmarks of 3M™ Automotive Window Films. 3M was issued the first sun control window film patent in 1966, and our innovative window film products have helped provide protection from the sun’s harmful rays for 50 years. NOTE: Auto tint laws vary by state or province. Please check your local laws or ask your dealer installer for films that meet your local tint laws.

 

[JeffK]

tint the windows with a quality heat reducing ceramic tint like 3m Crystaline.... problem solved

3M™ Automotive Window Film Crystalline Series

Details

• A clear breakthrough in automotive window films. The Crystalline Series rejects more heat than many dark films without changing the appearance of your vehicle, making it the superior choice for comfort.
• Light tint rejects up to 60% of solar energy and up to 97% of heat-producing infrared rays for the ultimate in comfort.
• Designed to enhance your view by allowing visible light into your vehicle while keeping heat out, so you can see clearly and safely.
• Non-metallized window film lets you stay connected with mobile devices, GPS or satellite radio reception without interference.
• Blocks up to 99% of ultraviolet (UV) light to provide a total Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of 1000 for you and your passengers.
• Sold and installed by 3M Authorized Dealer Installers, our films are durable, virtually maintenance-free and backed by a limited lifetime warranty.

The Crystalline Series features a proprietary, multilayer optical film nano-technology that combines over 200 layers in a film that is thinner than a Post-it® Note. Improving comfort, protecting vehicle interiors and blocking UV rays are hallmarks of 3M™ Automotive Window Films. 3M was issued the first sun control window film patent in 1966, and our innovative window film products have helped provide protection from the sun’s harmful rays for 50 years. NOTE: Auto tint laws vary by state or province. Please check your local laws or ask your dealer installer for films that meet your local tint laws.

We already know the Model 3 glass will have IR rejection so I'm not sure what 3M Crystalline would add. However, we don't know if all glass on the Model 3 has this feature.