My aircon seems to be misbehaving

[AnthonyLR]

Does anyone else have this issue? I have it set to auto at 19 degrees centigrade but the fan speed is really low. I need to turn it down to 16 degrees to get some cool air to blow. I have tried a soft reset.

It has worked fine before but more recently is doing this. Maybe a bug with the latest update? Software version details in signature.

 

[NorfolkMustard]

Auto fan speed is relative to the difference in current v target temp

large difference = high speed

 

[Neilman]

I had a lovely cold breeze from my Volvo V70 air conditioning prior to my M3LR test drive last week.
However, to get anything like the same effect I had to turn the M3 a/c temperature low and set the fan speed to max to cool down.
Having only been in the car for 15 minutes it took a while to figure out and fiddle with the controls to get cool.

 

[Tony Hoyle]

Mine has done that since I got it.. it's not a very good AC.. doesn't cope with temperature changes well at all. Tesla say it's normal.

 

[tccartier]

In my opinion the HVAC systems in at least Tesla Model S vehicles has always underperformed when in the auto setting. My experience has been that once the cabin temperature begins to reach or gets close to set point the blower speed is too low to move a sufficient amount of air to maintain comfort thus you begin to feel as if the cabin is warming up. Often I have to override an increase the blower speed to get comfortable. most other systems seem to regulate cabin temperature by adjusting the outlet air temperature and beginning to blend slightly warmer air as the cabin approaches set point. Tesla seems to try to accomplish this by reducing the blower speed down to almost nothing and when the air stops moving the car suddenly feels clammy and hot. That has been my experience since I've had my car. Through any number of updates over the last four years.

 

[AnthonyLR]

Mine has done that since I got it.. it's not a very good AC.. doesn't cope with temperature changes well at all. Tesla say it's normal.

The thing is, it WAS fine but now it isn't.

 

[Joelly]

The thing is, it WAS fine but now it isn't.

I have noticed a difference.
First of all I’m sure 20 degrees now is different to 20 degrees 2 months ago.
Secondly, I notice that the fan sometimes seems to get stuck, it fits with what @tccartier is saying. I find that dropping the temp a lot lower for a few seconds for the fan to kick in will recalibrate it and then set back to desired temp. Saves going into options to turn on and adjust fan speed.

 

[AYYC]

I’ve also noticed this since a couple of weeks ago, normally when you get into the car when it is hot the fan would come on quite aggressively. Last couple of weeks, 7/10 times the fan would only come on very gently and stay at around 3. The aircon doesn’t feel as cold as it used to to the extent I was going to report a service ticket if a mobile service had not already been booked to come on this Friday to look at a couple of minor issues.

 

[MOBB]

Mines the same, seems very inconsistent compared to previous cars

 

[Doudeau]

+1 and only in the last few weeks. Worked fine in the early summer when hot.

 

[NorfolkMustard]

Odd, doesn’t seem different to me, and fan speed seems consistent/adequate

 

[Keeper]

Agree. I’m not convinced my A/C is working properly or efficiently. It’s far from being automatic that’s for sure. I can get into the car and it is boiling hot. Start it - and nothing happens, even though the temp is set to 19C and it’s probably 30C inside - nothing happens! It can become freezing later on but only after prodding it. It doesn’t seem to cut in and out or vary fan speed to cope with changing temperature. It been like this from new.

 

[Jason71]

I use the api's to turn the hvac on and off sometimes. I have noticed that if I turn it off with the api then when I next get in the car it does not turn on until I do it manually. Not sure if this is a bug or a feature but it's a thing. I am using my own software but the apis are the apis so this will be the same for other apps maybe the tesla app as well.

 

[Cnixon]

I think the HVAC in this car really is a weak point. Worst system of any car I have had. How hot US owners cope is beyond me. Every day I have to set temp as low as possible to get to the set point quickly and then keep increasing it when I start to feel cold. I don't think we have an ambient sensor like every car on the road which compensates for the sun.

 

[Cnixon]

All I can say is the other US car makers must have set a really low bar for Tesla when it comes to actually making the driver comfortable...maybe thats why in films they always have their windows open!

 

[KamSandhu44]

Same issue, AC worked fine, it's been rubbish the last few weeks. Raised a service call, Tesla have found an issue, booked in for repairs in a few weeks.

Also, I cannot turn the AC on or off with the app, nor does dog mode work, says there is a system fault, might be worth checking if you get the same.

 

[Jason71]

Just for some balance I have to say I am perfectly happy with mine. Even during the really hot weather we have occasionally had this year it seemed to be able to get the temp down to where I wanted it perfectly adequately. I am quite fussy about being too hot but have not had to move the temp more than 1 degree between 19-20.
I do find the inability to turn off just the passenger vents bizarre though. Reported yesterday that a software update will change this........ for the model Y. clearly the M3 lacks the necessary hardware to allow this

 

[Jason71]

Can the people saying the system has changed recently post their software version for reference?

 

[Envchem]

No issues with mine either. At work there is no shade where I park the car so on a nice sunny day if I don't have cabin protection on it can go well over 50 degrees. Every time i enter the car and is hot the A/C starts immediately blowing really cold air. My wife actually complains about how strong the air flow is ;P

 

[Jason71]

Maybe we could set up some kind of controlled experiment like turn on the AC with a specific set of settings like say
manual face only, fan speed 3, recirculate, no rear, temp set to min say and compare the temp of air coming out of the vents relative to the ambient using a thermometer?
I appreciate that some peoples issue may be more about the auto settings than the actual cooling ability but it might tell us something?