Model Y - Just OK cold weather car

[gt2690b]

Yeah it was 0 in winter park yesterday morning and I had no trouble keeping the car warm or fishtailing with the stock crappy tires

full disclosure i used off road assist when it looked icy / snowy and turned if off if the road seemed ok and i throttled the accelerator as best i could

my guess is people complain their old ICE handled better b/c their old ICE didnt have regen ability and especially didnt have rear wheel braking bias... understandably not the greatest idea in the snow but there are workarounds available... SNOW mode would be better but im not ready to throw the car out yet it still handles better in 90% of driving conditions than any other car out there (regen down the mountains is a godsend!)

 

[pbcsd]

Buddy of mine just sent a pic of his Y's windshield (as I'm awaiitng my order). Having a major snow storm and his passenger side continues to form ice and the wiper blade isn't properly cleaning that side of the window because of the chunks of ice/snow that are getting stuck to the bottom of the blade causing chattering.

Do folks recommend a different wiper blade for the Y given I believe there is no way to properly heat the area (front defrost clearly isn't doing it)?

Edit: MICHELIN Endurance XT Wiper Blades dont' seem to be for sale in Canada.

 

[Volleyballmom]

Have to agree with a lot of this. I've lived in MN my entire life and am no stranger to snow, ice and cold weather and I've never had a car that fishtails as bad as the Y does in the snow. It does have an 'off road' mode that's supposed to even out the power distribution but when I try engaging that I get a warning that the stability control has been turned off so you're gaining a better power distribution at the expense of safety.

The other problem is it has an incredibly anemic heater/heat pump that isn't up to heating in extremely cold weather. We've had days where the high was around 0º F/-15º C and the heater could barely get warm. The other morning my coffee started fogging up the windshield and it had trouble getting it defrosted.

The handles are also a stupid design. They're fine for warm weather when you have your hands free but there's a reason no other car has handles that you have to push on one side and pull on the other.

I’m waiting for “snow mode,” like many others here. In the meantime, Chill Mode is better nothing for slippery conditions


There’s news out of Canada regarding recalls of faulty octovalves/heat pumps. Your car should not be this cold. Have you tried double pressing the front defrost icon to make it go red?

Yeah, we were driving in -24C the other day and the car was toasty warm inside (set at 18C with seat heaters on) and zero frost on the inside windows. Sounds like some MY aren't heating as well as others.

 

[Volleyballmom]

full disclosure i used off road assist when it looked icy / snowy and turned if off if the road seemed ok and i throttled the accelerator as best i could

my guess is people complain their old ICE handled better b/c their old ICE didnt have regen ability and especially didnt have rear wheel braking bias... understandably not the greatest idea in the snow but there are workarounds available... SNOW mode would be better but im not ready to throw the car out yet it still handles better in 90% of driving conditions than any other car out there (regen down the mountains is a godsend!)

Can I ask how the car handled differently with Off road assist? Do you need to keep your speed way down (like below a max. speed)? I haven't used it yet but would like to know when and if I should - and how I should drive differently. I don't want to make a bad situation worse due to ignorance.

 

[gt2690b]

Can I ask how the car handled differently with Off road assist? Do you need to keep your speed way down (like below a max. speed)? I haven't used it yet but would like to know when and if I should - and how I should drive differently. I don't want to make a bad situation worse due to ignorance.

it feels slower .. requires more throttle for the same acceleration... supposedly puts 50/50 torque on the front and rear for accel and regen.. i didnt feel it come loose at all during regen with off road assist on but i didnt do a hard regen since there was traffic everywhere... i did get the chance to allow the wheels to spin as i went up a grade with noone around and gunned it and it threw snow and went up the hill even in my horrible stock 19's... i could have went up the grade slowly and not spun it but i just wanted to test it out

oh also i wanted to test the abs braking in the snow and it slid waaaay further than i thought it would and i almost hit a snow bank ... i think i slammed on the brakes doing about 12 mph and slid maybe 30 feet or more.. yeah my tires def. suck

 

[jcanoe]

Buddy of mine just sent a pic of his Y's windshield (as I'm awaiitng my order). Having a major snow storm and his passenger side continues to form ice and the wiper blade isn't properly cleaning that side of the window because of the chunks of ice/snow that are getting stuck to the bottom of the blade causing chattering.

Do folks recommend a different wiper blade for the Y given I believe there is no way to properly heat the area (front defrost clearly isn't doing it)?

Edit: MICHELIN Endurance XT Wiper Blades dont' seem to be for sale in Canada.

The front windshield defroster has two settings; blue for general defrost and defogging and red for maximum defroster. To select maximum defroster setting you have to tap the defroster icon twice.

 

[Midnightsun]

The front windshield defroster has two settings; blue for general defrost and defogging and red for maximum defroster. To select maximum defroster setting you have to tap the defroster icon twice.

What is the point of blowing cold air (blue icon) on the windshield? I certainly see no need for it and personally would prefer the first touch be for the hot defrost mode as opposed to 2 to get there. It is a beast when running, hot as heck and no issue defrosting even at -28C. In fact the heating system impresses me every time I use it which is every day, all winter long.

 

[jcanoe]

What is the point of blowing cold air (blue icon) on the windshield? I certainly see no need for it and personally would prefer the first touch be for the hot defrost mode as opposed to 2 to get there. It is a beast when running, hot as heck and no issue defrosting even at -28C. In fact the heating system impresses me every time I use it which is every day, all winter long.

The front windshield defogger (icon turns blue) turns on the AC to remove condensation from the inside of the windshield. In certain weather conditions it is essential to being able to see out of the windshield, side glass. This is more efficient and quicker than heating up the windshield (heating up the windshield can also defog the glass.). The heat pump in the Tesla Model Y can remove moisture from inside the passenger cabin and the heat the air in the passenger cabin at the same time.

 

[rjpjnk]

Have you tried Off Road Assist in snow? It forces a 50-50 power split between front and rear axles, although you lose traction control. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.

I tried Off Road Assist on snow covered roads last night and was very impressed. Seems like an excellent option for snow driving.
I do see the indication that traction control is off but it still seems to be working as I cannot get the wheels to spin. If TC was really off what would be preventing the wheels without traction from spinning?

 

[buddhafree]

I tried Off Road Assist on snow covered roads last night and was very impressed. Seems like an excellent option for snow driving.
I do see the indication that traction control is off but it still seems to be working as I cannot get the wheels to spin. If TC was really off what would be preventing the wheels without traction from spinning?

Some reviewers have mentioned that it's not possible to turn TC completely off, it only allows limited wheel spin.
I would like to see like many others have mentioned, a proper winter mode or a way for a driver to manually adjust settings like regen and front-rear power split (independent of TC setting).

 

[Volleyballmom]

it feels slower .. requires more throttle for the same acceleration... supposedly puts 50/50 torque on the front and rear for accel and regen.. i didnt feel it come loose at all during regen with off road assist on but i didnt do a hard regen since there was traffic everywhere... i did get the chance to allow the wheels to spin as i went up a grade with noone around and gunned it and it threw snow and went up the hill even in my horrible stock 19's... i could have went up the grade slowly and not spun it but i just wanted to test it out

oh also i wanted to test the abs braking in the snow and it slid waaaay further than i thought it would and i almost hit a snow bank ... i think i slammed on the brakes doing about 12 mph and slid maybe 30 feet or more.. yeah my tires def. suck

Thanks for the feedback and yikes about the long slide nearly into a snowbank. Good luck if you'll be sticking with the stock 19s.

 

[gt2690b]

Thanks for the feedback and yikes about the long slide nearly into a snowbank. Good luck if you'll be sticking with the stock 19s.

Hoping to survive till next winter I have better equipped cars for now for winter.. plan on going with 18s though

 

[pbcsd]

Thanks for the feedback and yikes about the long slide nearly into a snowbank. Good luck if you'll be sticking with the stock 19s.

... drives me nuts when I see posters showing videos claiming their Y is great in the snow with the stock all seasons because they can get it to move properly in a straight line and/or up a hill in 8" of snow or pull another vehicle. Of course you can, Heck, you could do most of it in summer tires as well, albeit even more carefully.

The main point is the ability to stop and/or manouevre unexpectedly, that's where winter tires show how much better they are than all-seasons.

@gt2690b that's not aimed at you since it sounds like you plan on getting winters.

 

[sleepydoc]

The main point is the ability to stop and/or manouevre unexpectedly, that's where winter tires show how much better they are than all-seasons.

Wait.. .you mean you want to drive it in the winter?

 

[DiyEvRepair]

Took out the Y (AWD) for first time in snow driving today. I like the way this car drives in snow. Stock tires are not great, but traction control on this car is amazing - so even without snow tires I felt pretty comfortable all the time.

A few things I leaned:
1) Use regen braking - avoid having to use the brake pedal.
2) When going downhill, remember that fully releasing accelerator will apply so much regen braking that the car will slide - and be ready to apply some "gas" to get full traction back.
3) For more fun, turn on the "Off-road Assist" mode. Use only if you have experience driving in snow/ice. Also good for deeper snow.

 

[treemanzarek]

Love seeing various sides on this post, just picked up my MYP late December, and will take it to the mountains soon. Pre-bought Gemini's for winter, but I got the Michelin's, so probably going to try these in snow (if more comes in CA), for this year. Couldn't find a winter tire anyway.

Seems like it's going to do at least 'fine' (the car, not tires). I owned a 4motion VW Passat and a B7 Audi S4 (a manual V8) for ~ten years each, with plenty of snow driving. Ice always built up on the windows in the worst storms.

 

[pbcsd]

The front windshield defroster has two settings; blue for general defrost and defogging and red for maximum defroster. To select maximum defroster setting you have to tap the defroster icon twice.

Yes, he hit the button twice. Still had ice build up on the passenger slide so had to drive without visibility on that side for hours on the highway (massive storm).

 

[Midnightsun]

The front windshield defogger (icon turns blue) turns on the AC to remove condensation from the inside of the windshield. In certain weather conditions it is essential to being able to see out of the windshield, side glass. This is more efficient and quicker than heating up the windshield (heating up the windshield can also defog the glass.). The heat pump in the Tesla Model Y can remove moisture from inside the passenger cabin and the heat the air in the passenger cabin at the same time.

Even in defrost heat mode the air sent through the AC evaporator to remove humidity before being heated and sent to the windshield on all cars. Honestly I have never used a defrost on a cold air setting in over 40 years of driving. Back in the days, they turned on the AC when defrost was selected to run the compressor as many seized up after not being run for 6 months during winter with salt spray and all or at least this is what I was told back then when nobody could understand why, does make sense though.

 

[Calliope]

Major snowstorm yesterday while I was driving home from the cottage, and I alternated with Off-Road Assist or not: Much better traction for moving in areas of the city that weren't yet plowed (most areas of most cities) and allowed me to drive in and out of unplowed parking lots easily. Didn't use it on highways where there was a well-worn lane that was only partially snow covered. The few times I went into the snowy passing lane to pass a slow truck, I used Off Road Assist mode there, then turned it off again once back in the clear lane, well ahead of the truck.

 

[gt2690b]

Even in defrost heat mode the air sent through the AC evaporator to remove humidity before being heated and sent to the windshield on all cars. Honestly I have never used a defrost on a cold air setting in over 40 years of driving. Back in the days, they turned on the AC when defrost was selected to run the compressor as many seized up after not being run for 6 months during winter with salt spray and all or at least this is what I was told back then when nobody could understand why, does make sense though.

I guess you never lived in the south... Steamy summer showers fogs up the windows pretty bad