Question about performance in hot weather

[Cr8it]

I live in Arizona, and this past week has been hot (over 100 degrees every day). Yesterday I had the car (P90D) in the driveway while doing some work in my garage. A fan kept turning on and off in the car, even though the car was locked. Is this cooling the battery? Is it something that I have to worry about drawing down my battery when parked on hot days?

The other heat issue I have found is my wife literally burned her hand on the door handle when the car was parked and her door was facing the sun's direction. Anyone else have this happen and is there anything that can be done to prevent it?

 

[kort677]

yes, the battery is cooled by the car, yes it will cost you a mile or two of range and yes this is SOP. as for the door handle, this is a well known issue that defies an easy solution.

 

[Boourns]

For those who have vinyl wrapped or plasti-dipped their door handles, does that cut down on how hot they get?

 

[benjiejr]

For those who have vinyl wrapped or plasti-dipped their door handles, does that cut down on how hot they get?

It does! Mine is wrapped in black and it's it still provides enough insulation to be cooler to the touch. Quite dramatically.

@Cr8it - I have the same issues with the fan coming on often in south Texas heat. It can be somewhat loud at times and I've had the rangers check it and it's normal.

 

[fluxemag]

I solved the door handle issue by moving somewhere that's not terrible. But in all seriousness I'm a Scottsdale native, I actually love it there non-summer. I don't remember having too much of a problem with hot handles because I ran pre-conditioning AC so extensively.

 

[kort677]

I solved the door handle issue by moving somewhere that's not terrible. But in all seriousness I'm a Scottsdale native, I actually love it there non-summer. I don't remember having too much of a problem with hot handles because I ran pre-conditioning AC so extensively.

help me out here, how would cooling the interior have an effect on the exterior door handles?

 

[beantobe]

help me out here, how would cooling the interior have an effect on the exterior door handles?

Because if the interior is cool enough the seats can act as an ice pack from the 2nd degree burns you just got from the handle? Lel

 

[RogerHScott]

burned her hand on the door handle when the car was parked and her door was facing the sun's direction. Anyone else have this happen

Happens even in not-so-searingly-hot places like Indiana in June. It is easy to forget and then be rather unpleasantly reminded.

 

[Tdriver]

A couple layers of duct tape on the back side of the door handle works well.

 

[RogerHScott]

A couple layers of duct tape on the back side of the door handle works well.

Eureka! That's what's missing in Tesla's fit and finish: duct tape!

 

[thecloud]

help me out here, how would cooling the interior have an effect on the exterior door handles?

There was a thread sometime last year where people claimed that precooling the interior caused a slight cooling of the interior part of the door handles, just enough to be able to open the door without screaming. IIRC this was supposedly because air was escaping from the interior of the car through the area around the handle. The same effect would warm up the handle slightly in freezing weather so the handles would pop free if they were iced up. I could be misremembering or hallucinating, so ask your doctor if precooling is right for you.

Personally, I just grab the handle with the bottom part of my shirt and open the door in one quick motion. Simple.

 

[TaoJones]

Another thread referenced the affixing of strips of felt to the undersides of the door handles - thus averting 2nd-degree burns.

I've had the fan(s) engage in Maine when it was 92F and in SoCal when it's been near 100F. So it's not limited to AZ/NM/TX.

Once they finish the Supercharger Wasteland that is I-10 between AZ and TX, lots of people will get to exercise their fans and to become one with strips of felt.

Of course, as long as they keep prioritizing places like Magoc (Canada) and the middle of Iowa over the only transcontinental route (used by millions of people every season) to not require chains or snow tires year-round, those rolls of felt tape will go unused.

In fact, at this point, I expect the Great Alaskan Highway to be SC-enabled before I-10. But I'll keep the felt handy just in case. That way my fingers won't stick to the door handles in sub-zero weather.

 

[disillusioned]

I'm in Phoenix and I've gotten very good at the "quick pop" motion to open the door handles. Definitely have to be careful about that though!

 

[kort677]

Personally, I just grab the handle with the bottom part of my shirt and open the door in one quick motion. Simple.

that's an OK fix for you, for the ladies, not so ok

 

[thecloud]

that's an OK fix for you, for the ladies, not so ok

Ladies shouldn't have to touch the door handle at all; a gentleman will have opened the door for them. Or, barring that, a small eyeglass cleaning cloth could be tucked in your purse.

 

[RogerHScott]

Ladies shouldn't have to touch the door handle at all; a gentleman will have opened the door for them.

Given the absence of a smiley on that, on behalf of every single female Tesla owner I say to you: "drop dead".

 

[Az_Rael]

Ladies shouldn't have to touch the door handle at all; a gentleman will have opened the door for them. Or, barring that, a small eyeglass cleaning cloth could be tucked in your purse.

Well, I suppose proper ladies would be wearing gloves even if they had to open their own door. But, hey, modern times and all.

 

[Todd Burch]

help me out here, how would cooling the interior have an effect on the exterior door handles?

Early on (2012-2013 timeframe) Model S owners realized that a very small amount of air seemed to escape around the door handles. My 2012 was like this.

Not 100% sure if that's still the case as I haven't tested with my newer car, but if so you'd just slight forced convection over the handles when the car is precooling, which would probably be enough to reduce the handle temperature from "ouchy" to "hmm, that's a little warm."

 

[thecloud]

Given the absence of a smiley on that, on behalf of every single female Tesla owner I say to you: "drop dead".

facepalm
It was a joke. Here is your smiley:

 

[FloridaGary]

We have temps in the mid 90's now and the door handles were something I was concerned about earlier this year. My car sits in the sun Mon-Fri while I am in my office and when I leave, I found opening the door doesn't burn my fingertips. It doesn't take much pressure to open the door and I never touch the outside of the handle (I hate fingerprints on chrome and glass). I only grab the inside of the handle and until I read this thread had completely forgot about this issue.