I just picked up my Plaid yesterday. First impression is the car is amazing, but the heating system is awful. It’s inexcusable how bad the heating is for any car much less a car in this price range. It reminds me of a VW Beetle from the 1970s.
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Model S Plaid heating system sucks!!!
- Thread starter Brake late
- Start date
That shouldn’t be the case. Make a service appointment. Something is wrong with your vehicle.
I don't have a plaid, but do have a refresh LR which has the same cabin heating system. Works very well for me, car seems much better insulated in the area near the drivers pedals than previous models... Agree that you should make an appointment
Good luck!
Good luck!
@Brake late - I see you're located in Baltimore, so likely getting relatively cold, plus you just joined this forum. That might suggest this could be your first Tesla. If so, a couple things I've learned from 5.5 years in my mid-2016 MS90D including driving in some colder midwest climates and long range trips including dodging blizzard through NY, PA, on into DC area in March 2017.
Use the app to turn on the heat inside the car for about 5 or 10 minutes before you go to depart.
In cold weather, I make sure that AC is turned off. I find my MS90D wants to have AC on for dehumidification in cases where I don't really need it. This tends to make the air out of the vents not feel as hot as you may be accustomed to with an ICE vehicle.
Learn to use the seat heaters, even if on low. That's much more energy effective plus I find helps put warmth into my body core better.
Now the one thing where I've always felt my MS suffered was the ducting of heat to the driver footwell. That is weak and I typically end up feeling my feet being cold. I do not have any experience with the newer Model S setup to know if they've improved that. I would hope so, but just no first hand experience.
Just my quick thoughts on what might help.
Use the app to turn on the heat inside the car for about 5 or 10 minutes before you go to depart.
In cold weather, I make sure that AC is turned off. I find my MS90D wants to have AC on for dehumidification in cases where I don't really need it. This tends to make the air out of the vents not feel as hot as you may be accustomed to with an ICE vehicle.
Learn to use the seat heaters, even if on low. That's much more energy effective plus I find helps put warmth into my body core better.
Now the one thing where I've always felt my MS suffered was the ducting of heat to the driver footwell. That is weak and I typically end up feeling my feet being cold. I do not have any experience with the newer Model S setup to know if they've improved that. I would hope so, but just no first hand experience.
Just my quick thoughts on what might help.
Ostrichsak
Well-Known Member
Also, make sure you're not in Range Mode as this significantly impacts the performance of the heater and makes it nearly worthless by design.
The footwell area is markedly improved in comparison to the 2016 MS I previously owned. Hope that helps
Thank you for your suggestions, but this is my second tesla. My model Y never had a problem with heating. This is very frustrating.
When you say "refresh LR," do you mean the new model introduced along with the Plaid? Or the model before that with the new motors, new air suspension, improved audio, and so on, but with the round steering wheel? I get confused about various "refresh" versions. And either way, is it true that only the newest cars (2021 models with the Yoke) have the heat pumps vs. resistance heaters in the previous model S?
There is only one Model S Refresh. That is the 2021 with the yoke.
Prior to that there was the Original Model S, Facelift Model S, and Raven Model S.
I'm not sure who made it official that the mid-2016 version is "facelift" versus a refresh. For most of the the past 5.5 years people have referred to what you call "facelift" as "refresh", so frankly, the terminology is ambiguous.
Art VandeIay
Attractive Membrane
I'm VERY glad you brought this up @David29...
I was very surprised when the term "Raven" caught up extremely fast among the Tesla and non-Tesla community, both online and offline, especially considering Raven is the internal name used by Tesla, (Abstract Ocean even sells "Raven" stickers).
But on the other hand, unfortunately, Palladium is the internal name used for the new S and X platform, but nobody calls them Palladiums outside of Tesla. Instead, people usually refer to them as "Plaids", but as you know, that's a trim level within the Palladium platform.
It would help A LOT to maybe "educate" the community if we could divide the Model S Forum Sections here on TMC to something like:
2012 - 2016 (WhiteStar),
2016.5 - 2019 (S2),
2019.5 - 2021 (Raven),
2021- (Palladium).
Just my 2¢...
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If everyone used, "I have a 2021 Plaid or a 2020 Long Range Plus", etc. there would be no confusion. Until 2021, "refresh" always denoted 2018+ Model S cars. The 2021 is more than a refresh, in my opinion. Just say 2021!
Art VandeIay
Attractive Membrane
The thing is, there are a few (like very very few) Raven S' and X's that had a 2021 VIN. Even Tesla has this distinction in their EPC catalog.
According to Tesla, Model S Palladiums officially begin with Feb 2021 builds onwards:
Tesla divides its Model S platforms (at least parts-wise) on:
Nosecone
S2
Palladium
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ucmndd
Well-Known Member
Lol, I sure wish master chief glide consulted someone at Tesla and all of the media outlets in 2016 when he made this unilateral retroactive decision.
Tesla Model S Refresh Details: New Front Fascia, HEPA Filtration, Charger Upgrade, Colors
The Tesla Model S refresh includes a new front fascia, HEPA filtration, faster charging and new interior color choices
2016 Model S refresh, in pictures
Here are the first official pictures of the new Tesla Model S!
www.cnet.com
The 2016 refresh was a fairly significant update to the Model S. Numerous mechanical systems and parts were significantly revised.
