Model 3 Motor whine / whirr / sound

[GoldenOne]

So I picked up my model 3 a few days ago and am loving it so far. But I took it out today and noticed that I was getting seemingly quite a bit more motor whine than usual.

I've uploaded two videos here:

Watch Tesla motor whine | Streamable

Watch "Tesla motor whine" on Streamable.

streamable.com

Watch 9a9571 | Streamable

Watch this video on Streamable.

streamable.com

The 'spaceship' high pitch whine was always there and I know that's normal. But I'm concerned about the lower frequency sound which happens even when just cruising at 15mph. Not accelerating/decelerating.

I've only had the car a couple days so I'm not really sure what's normal and what isn't. It could be cause its a bit colder today (8c) or maybe it was there before and I just didn't notice but I'm fairly certain that isn't the case.

Can anyone here comment? Does your m3 have a motor sound similar to this sometimes/all the time or should I book this in for a service?

 

[RipVanFinkle]

Seems awfully loud. I’d take it in.

 

[KenC]

Can't hear it. Is your back seat down? Single or dual motor?

 

[GtiMart]

Doesn't sound very loud to me. Note that if the car starts using the front motor (in a dual motor), you'll hear that one much louder. Apart from under hard acceleration, the front motor gets used more when the car starts detecting wheels slipping, like on snow here in winter.

 

[GoldenOne]

Doesn't sound very loud to me. Note that if the car starts using the front motor (in a dual motor), you'll hear that one much louder. Apart from under hard acceleration, the front motor gets used more when the car starts detecting wheels slipping, like on snow here in winter.

It definitely seems to be coming more from the rear but could be both. Hard to tell as cabin acoustics make it a bit tricky.

I think it MIGHT be due to colder weather though. A few people on the tesla discord said that the car can have louder motor noise when cold so I'll see what it's like once it's at least above 10C again

 

[RipVanFinkle]

It definitely seems to be coming more from the rear but could be both. Hard to tell as cabin acoustics make it a bit tricky.

I think it MIGHT be due to colder weather though. A few people on the tesla discord said that the car can have louder motor noise when cold so I'll see what it's like once it's at least above 10C again

It’s 12F where I’m at and my M3P only makes an audible motor sound if I floor it. Even then it’s pretty faint.

I can’t wait for above freezing temps again!

 

[Alysashley79]

Are you sure it’s not the pedestrian awareness you’re hearing? Have you rolled down your window to see if it’s coming from the speakers? Just a thought.

That being said. It doesn’t sound out of the realm of normal. Both my s and 3 sound similar. The thing is most of us just get used to the sound our cars make after a bit. If this is your first tesla it could be just that.

If you do think it’s louder than it should be make an appt quickly. You only have I think 6 months for them to fix noise issues.

 

[GtiMart]

Ah, yes, when the battery is cold the car might regen a few kW from the front to generate "free" heat as you drive.

 

[SomeJoe7777]

If the car is trying to actively heat the battery due to cold temperatures, or in preparation for supercharging (you've navigated to a supercharger and are in route), the motors will make quite a bit more audible noise than normal. The Model 3/Y do not have dedicated battery heaters, they heat the battery using waste heat from the drive motors. The car will drive the motors with a intentionally inefficient waveform to increase their waste heat production, then the coolant loops carry the waste heat from the motor to the battery to heat it. The inefficient waveform is responsible for the increased whine.

 

[KenC]

It definitely seems to be coming more from the rear but could be both. Hard to tell as cabin acoustics make it a bit tricky.

I think it MIGHT be due to colder weather though. A few people on the tesla discord said that the car can have louder motor noise when cold so I'll see what it's like once it's at least above 10C again

If you can't tell whether the sound is coming from front or rear, fold the back seats down, and it'll be louder if from the back.

 

[Zacster]

8c is about 40f and that is NOT cold. My SR+ doesn’t make any noise though that I can hear except in reverse, even in colder weather than that, around 15f, although it does get crappy range when it is cold like that.

 

[GoldenOne]

I've booked it in for a service. Hopefully they'll be able to sort it easily

 

[sreenaths1988]

@GoldenOne Did the issue resolve?

 

[HTWorld]

So I picked up my model 3 a few days ago and am loving it so far. But I took it out today and noticed that I was getting seemingly quite a bit more motor whine than usual.

I've uploaded two videos here:

Watch Tesla motor whine | Streamable

Watch "Tesla motor whine" on Streamable.

streamable.com

Watch 9a9571 | Streamable

Watch this video on Streamable.

streamable.com

The 'spaceship' high pitch whine was always there and I know that's normal. But I'm concerned about the lower frequency sound which happens even when just cruising at 15mph. Not accelerating/decelerating.

I've only had the car a couple days so I'm not really sure what's normal and what isn't. It could be cause its a bit colder today (8c) or maybe it was there before and I just didn't notice but I'm fairly certain that isn't the case.

Can anyone here comment? Does your m3 have a motor sound similar to this sometimes/all the time or should I book this in for a service?

I have exactly the same noise in my new M3P. Were you able to resolve it?

 

[Big Earl]

Sounds pretty normal to me.

 

[James Cole]

It is louder than normal… sounds cool though, let us know what it was…

 

[Bogusburger]

@GoldenOne Did you managed to find a fix for this? Mine has been making a similar noise from the front of the car and it's really bugging me.