My first +90 degree day in the Model S

[Sousaphil]

Yesterday we established a new record high at (or above) 95 degrees in the Phoenix metropolitan area. I, among others, had initial trepidation about the pano roof and the heat of the Arizona sun. I opted to get the pano roof and today I'm thrilled.

I drove to a spring training game yesterday, 1pm scheduled start time. The car was parked outside, uncovered for several hours. The mobile app told me it reached 125 degrees inside during the game. Once the game was over, I started up the AC unit and vented the roof from the mobile app. About 2 minutes later, I was seated in the car that was already cooler than the outside ambient. Given the post-game traffic, I didn't move an inch for a few minutes. The AC just kept cooling and I found I was fully comfortable with the thermostat set at 78 for the full ride home.

I can say with complete confidence that fans of black leather and the pano roof can order knowing they won't fry. The Tesla was easily the fastest-cooling car I've ever ridden or owned. I have no doubt that the car will be quite comfortable as the temps rise to 110 and above this summer.

 

[NuclearPowered]

I was thinking about posting this to the AZ thread with the recent warm weather. Glad to see someone beat me to it.

How much effect are you seeing the A/c have on the power draw? Any notice of range reduction parked in heat at the game?

I'm sure a white car helps too.




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[Sousaphil]

I didn't make note of my range when I parked, so I can't comment on what was lost over that time.

A/C doesn't seem to have a huge power draw(so far). How I drive and the heater are the only significant factors in power draw as far as I've been able to notice.


I should also note that I have after market limo tint on the side and rear windows, which is absolutely fantastic on a sunny day like yesterday.

 

[fluxemag]

That's great news. I too ordered the pano and black leather in AZ. I was just thinking about what the AC and roof would be like in the MS at lunch today. Since mine is most likely going to get here by June, it will be trial by fire.

 

[Discoducky]

Great to hear as we'll be in Palm Springs in two weeks. Gotta remember to vent and turn on A/C at least a few minutes prior to arrival at a sunbaked car :wink:

 

[jomo25]

Awesome, great to hear. It'll be interesting to see the impact of the extreme temps here on range and comfort. I doubt there will be any noticeable battery degradation issues, but will be nice to confirm.

I was thinking about this the other day. Since the MS does have instant energy usage meter/graph, it will be an interesting experiment to actually be able to see how much more energy actually used when the AC is on. In my Volt, I can't see this. You should be able to see the Whrs/mi impact directly.

- - - Updated - - -

And yes it's screwed up that we are already at 95 before the middle of March.

 

[ZBB]

And yes it's screwed up that we are already at 95 before the middle of March.

Remember that we hit 100 around March 1 last year? Then it cooled off until late April...

 

[phx182flyer]

And I would still rather shovel sunshine than snow. Getting the windows tinted today. Curious to see what difference it will make.

 

[jomo25]

Curious to know if this was with 4.2 or 4.3 firmware? I assume it was 4.2. Will be interesting to re-test after 4.3. Shouldn't be a difference, but they sounds like they did tweak some code in their conditioning function logic.

 

[dsm363]

I can say with complete confidence that fans of black leather and the pano roof can order knowing they won't fry. The Tesla was easily the fastest-cooling car I've ever ridden or owned. I have no doubt that the car will be quite comfortable as the temps rise to 110 and above this summer.

Thank you! That's exactly what I ordered but it started cooling down when I got my car so didn't get to test it in the hot weather (that and the mobile app wasn't out). Good to know.

 

[Sousaphil]

Curious to know if this was with 4.2 or 4.3 firmware? I assume it was 4.2. Will be interesting to re-test after 4.3. Shouldn't be a difference, but they sounds like they did tweak some code in their conditioning function logic.

I'm still on 4.2. The latest isn't available to me yet.

 

[Al Sherman]

Is it SOP to vent the pano when pre-cooling?

 

[jerry33]

Is it SOP to vent the pano when pre-cooling?

Don't know if it's SOP, but when the car has sat in the sun for a few hours, there's a lot of superheated air in the cabin and it's more efficient to get rid of through the vent rather than having it cooled by the HVAC system. Ideally there really needs to be a vent mode that will run the fan to keep the car close to ambient temperature. Until that's implemented, you open the vent and if possible open the windows 25 mm or so for a while to get the cabin temperature as close to ambient as possible before turning on the HVAC.

 

[Al Sherman]

Don't know if it's SOP, but when the car has sat in the sun for a few hours, there's a lot of superheated air in the cabin and it's more efficient to get rid of through the vent rather than having it cooled by the HVAC system. Ideally there really needs to be a vent mode that will run the fan to keep the car close to ambient temperature. Until that's implemented, you open the vent and if possible open the windows 25 mm or so for a while to get the cabin temperature as close to ambient as possible before turning on the HVAC.

Thanks Jerry. So maybe on the 17th tee I open the vent. Then when I birdie 18 I turn on the HVAC? Should I leave the vent open while the AC runs?

 

[clea]

Thanks Jerry. So maybe on the 17th tee I open the vent. Then when I birdie 18 I turn on the HVAC? Should I leave the vent open while the AC runs?

at first, yes you want to run the fans while the roof is vented to help blow out the hot air but I would think then you will need to close it so soon afterwards so that the HVAC can do its job without trying to cool down the whole course. But wouldn't you want to wait to start this process until you are closer to finishing the 19th?

 

[Tommy]

Thanks Jerry. So maybe on the 17th tee I open the vent. Then when I birdie 18 I turn on the HVAC? Should I leave the vent open while the AC runs?

Some sage advice: Wait until your about to leave the 19th (the watering hole) to turn on the HVAC. :wink:

 

[jerry33]

Thanks Jerry. So maybe on the 17th tee I open the vent. Then when I birdie 18 I turn on the HVAC? Should I leave the vent open while the AC runs?

Clea is right. It only needs to run with the windows open for a minute (a real minute--60 seconds) to blow the rest of the superheated air out. Then you want the windows closed.

 

[FlasherZ]

Thanks Jerry. So maybe on the 17th tee I open the vent. Then when I birdie 18 I turn on the HVAC? Should I leave the vent open while the AC runs?

It doesn't take that long, because it creates one heck of a chimney effect.