MXP Refresh - adjustment of dash air flow - RTFM!

[AdamHLG]

I cannot believe I did this, Tesla fanboy that I am. I am posting this for others.

The wife and I recently completed 3 long weekend road trips the past 3 weekends in my 2022 MXP refresh. I leave the AC on 'auto' and at 68-69 degrees the air feels perfect - that is - until my non-technical minded wife decides to bring up the airflow display on the center console and starts mashing every possible button. Me: "what are you trying to do?" Her: "I don't like the air blowing on me". Me: "you can 'un-sync' the temp and select your own temp on your side, but you cannot lower the fan speed on your side only - and I like the fan speed". Her: "places AC on manual, lowers fan speed to 2, and sets temp to 73" Me: "GrrrrRRRRR". Her: "I don't like the fan blowing on me. If your car is so advanced why can't I adjust the direction of the air blowing from the vents?" Me: "because you can't - don't you see how the vents are hidden into the dashboard? This is the design trade-off." This process played out repeatedly over 3 weekends at least 3 or 4 times per weekend.

Last night I am browsing the forums and see a post talking about adjusting the airflow direction using the center console. It says something like "press and hold the wavy air flow lines on the center console and drag left, right, up or down to adjust the direction of the driver and passenger side airflow from the dashboard vents." I was literally like "no f-ing way". I look up the climate section of the manual on my phone and I could not believe my eyes. I get out of bed, go down to the car, try it, and I just couldn't believe what an idiot I was. I had pressed on those wavy lines to try and bring up a menu of some sort, but I never knew to slide my finger on the wavy lines to make adjustments - - and the adjustments can be made separately for driver and passenger for flow direction from the center vents.

Had I not seen that random post, I could have owned this car for 5 years and never have learned that.

TL;DR: Read the owners manual - don't be like me !!!!!!

 

[shingles]

The important question is, did you fess up to the wife?

 

[AdamHLG]

o yeah. I had to fess up!!

 

[strider]

Yep, my MY-owning friend showed me that (we've only had Roadsters and S/X models).

You can also "split" the air left and right by putting two fingers on the wavy lines and moving them apart.

 

[AdamHLG]

Yep, my MY-owning friend showed me that (we've only had Roadsters and S/X models).

You can also "split" the air left and right by putting two fingers on the wavy lines and moving them apart.

You can? lol. I even thought I read the manual carefully maybe I need to read it twice. I like surprises like this.

 

[ecarfan]

I am browsing the forums and see a post talking about adjusting the airflow direction using the center console. It says something like "press and hold the wavy air flow lines on the center console and drag left, right, up or down to adjust the direction of the driver and passenger side airflow from the dashboard vents."

All Model 3 and Y owners have known that for years.

I also own a “classic” X and now the manually adjustable dash vents seem so last century…

 

[jboy210]

All Model 3 and Y owners have known that for years.

I also own a “classic” X and now the manually adjustable dash vents seem so last century…

As a 3 owner I have always been surprised how many features are in that car that were not in my old X build a year before our 3.

 

[ecarfan]

As a 3 owner I have always been surprised how many features are in that car that were not in my old X build a year before our 3.

The Model 3 dashboard design is radically different from the pre-2022 Model X cars, as you know. When the 3 came out many expected the X and S dashboards to be redesigned to be similar, and eventually they were it just took some time. Since the S/X production numbers are only a small fraction of the total number of 3/Y numbers it is understandable that Tesla does not devote a lot of resources to keeping S/X designs up to date. Tesla has to focus on high volume production to be profitable and allow for more investment in new factories and bringing new models to market like the Cybertruck and Semi. That is how Tesla is going to survive and thrive. S/X vehicles are really not that important to Tesla’s future.

 

[jboy210]

The Model 3 dashboard design is radically different from the pre-2022 Model X cars, as you know. When the 3 came out many expected the X and S dashboards to be redesigned to be similar, and eventually they were it just took some time. Since the S/X production numbers are only a small fraction of the total number of 3/Y numbers it is understandable that Tesla does not devote a lot of resources to keeping S/X designs up to date. Tesla has to focus on high volume production to be profitable and allow for more investment in new factories and bringing new models to market like the Cybertruck and Semi. That is how Tesla is going to survive and thrive. S/X vehicles are really not that important to Tesla’s future.

That definitely appears to be how Tesla is operating. But, if I were running the show, I would use the S and X as the first deployment of some new ideas. They are small volume platforms, so any tweaking involves a lower number of vehicles. Plus, the margins are larger so any rework or experimentation costs will have less impact on the overall corporate bottom line. And finally, the S and X buyer is not as price sensitive, so if you bump the price to cover the costs of new tech it is likely to less impact on sales numbers. And I think to some degrees they do that with the S and X, for example the yoke.

FWIW, I think the 3/y design with the dashboard was purely a cost savings move.

 

[mxnym]

That definitely appears to be how Tesla is operating. But, if I were running the show, I would use the S and X as the first deployment of some new ideas. They are small volume platforms, so any tweaking involves a lower number of vehicles. Plus, the margins are larger so any rework or experimentation costs will have less impact on the overall corporate bottom line. And finally, the S and X buyer is not as price sensitive, so if you bump the price to cover the costs of new tech it is likely to less impact on sales numbers. And I think to some degrees they do that with the S and X, for example the yoke.

FWIW, I think the 3/y design with the dashboard was purely a cost savings move.

I understand your logic, but have you considered that most manufacturers now push features to their smaller high-volume vehicles before their flagsnip vehicles? Surely there is a good reason for this, even if those of us that drive flagships don't like it.