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Retro-fitting HEPA filter in Model Y

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Picked up my parts yesterday after a ~2 week backorder and installed in my '21 MY last night (original delivery date 6/2021). Installation was super easy, took about 1.5 hours in total as the car already had pre-drilled holes from the factory. As @BreatheEasier mentioned, the parts I ordered were all correct and are listed below to help make it easier to order:

1) REAR APRON, HEPA,MY (1619812-00-B)
2) HEPA, DUCT,MY (1499137-99-C) - see note below
3) HEPA FILTER (1495167-00-B)
4) Two M6x40mm stainless bolts and two 1-1/4" stainless washers from Lowe's

Note: For item #2 there has been a lot of back and forth on which is the right part number. 1499137-99-C is listed on my invoice and duct packaging, however printed on the duct itself is 1499137-00-C (see attached photo). So they seem to be somewhat interchangeable part numbers at the moment.

As others have noted, airflow is definitely reduced when drawing outside air into the MY. I have to bump up the fan speed two levels (ie, 5 to 7) to get a similar air flow as prior to the upgrade, but the noise level remains low. Recirculated airflow remains the same. Overall this is a great upgrade and would highly recommend to anyone to fix the defective air inlet duct in the original MY design. Thanks everyone for your help getting this done!
 

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Coming from decades of German car ownership, these same parts would have been 5 times the price, at least.
Congratulations!

I guess what people have said about legacy car makers depending substantially on money from parts rings true in this example.

I'm guessing no one raised an eyebrow about this? My appointment at the Arlington SC was just kicked out from 6/30 to 7/18 with no actual response to my message. I'm going to cancel and put the order in at Tysons SC and just hope no one thinks twice about it.

You can clearly tell the decreased flow when using the non recirculate setting, and full fan speed with no recirculate does seem to provide less airflow than the demo unit I checked out BMD mode on a few months ago to the best of my memory… either way the install was super easy and it feels great having a filter on the air that is being brought into the cabin.

What about if you keep the system in Auto? Shouldn't it ramp to get to the desired temperature and then maintain? I almost never mess with the actual fan speed and only change the temperature.
 
Congratulations!

I guess what people have said about legacy car makers depending substantially on money from parts rings true in this example.

I'm guessing no one raised an eyebrow about this? My appointment at the Arlington SC was just kicked out from 6/30 to 7/18 with no actual response to my message. I'm going to cancel and put the order in at Tysons SC and just hope no one thinks twice about it.



What about if you keep the system in Auto? Shouldn't it ramp to get to the desired temperature and then maintain? I almost never mess with the actual fan speed and only change the temperature.
No, with auto it still has the reduced fan speed. I'm guessing in the software it is set to blow at certain speeds with certain temperature differentials. See a few posts above, there is a guy who got mobile service to manually enable BWD. Airflow increased after the software change
 
I saw on Reddit someone was able to convince a tech to enable BWD mode. They also noted there was an increase in air pressure/speed when just using the “intake fresh air” setting. Time to start smooth talking service/mobile service tech.
Most likely have to get a mobile tech out for another reason...pretty sure they will deny this ask if I place it through the app.

I can't seem to find the reddit post so I don't know how another owner was able to successfully do this.
 
So I just had mobile service out to rotate my tires and I asked the tech about enabling bioweapon mode. He looked in his phone and confirmed my VIN configuration already had "Standard air filter + HEPA (high-efficiency particulate absorbing) air filter (AF02)". Not sure if this changed when I ordered the parts from the service center a couple weeks ago or if it has been this way since I took delivery 6/2021. After the tech spoke to someone in the service center, he got out his laptop and connected it to my car and changed the configuration from standard to HEPA. After the MY rebooted, the bioweapon mode button displayed. Haven't had a chance to test air flow yet. The techs felt the configuration change would persist after a firmware update as the setting appears to be kept in the vehicle rather than a cloud / VIN configurable item, at least was the case for me. Will test out air flow differences and report back.
 

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No, with auto it still has the reduced fan speed. I'm guessing in the software it is set to blow at certain speeds with certain temperature differentials. See a few posts above, there is a guy who got mobile service to manually enable BWD. Airflow increased after the software change
Thank you. So the real advantage of BWD is that it just increases the internal fan speed (a certain amount) to replicate performance on par with the system w/o the HEPA installed?

I would have thought in Auto mode, with or without the HEPA, it would just increase fan speed and adjust temperature until desired cabin temp is met. At that point it would ramp down and just maintain flow/temp.
 
So I just had mobile service out to rotate my tires and I asked the tech about enabling bioweapon mode. He looked in his phone and confirmed my VIN configuration already had "Standard air filter + HEPA (high-efficiency particulate absorbing) air filter (AF02)". Not sure if this changed when I ordered the parts from the service center a couple weeks ago or if it has been this way since I took delivery 6/2021. After the tech spoke to someone in the service center, he got out his laptop and connected it to my car and changed the configuration from standard to HEPA. After the MY rebooted, the bioweapon mode button displayed. Haven't had a chance to test air flow yet. The techs felt the configuration change would persist after a firmware update as the setting appears to be kept in the vehicle rather than a cloud / VIN configurable item, at least was the case for me. Will test out air flow differences and report back.
How much is the tire rotation by the way?

Also, this so clearly shows Tesla could easily add this as an official add on upgrade. Everyone says that Tesla doesn't need more jobs on the books for their techs, but in this case it's a fairly small set of cars that were produced before. Maybe 50k? Something like that? I doubt the take rate would be 100% either, especially if this was priced at like $500 or something. Tesla would make $300+ on it from the look of cost of parts plus maybe an hour of mobile service time and probably 20 to 30% of customers would actually go for this.
 
How much is the tire rotation by the way?

Also, this so clearly shows Tesla could easily add this as an official add on upgrade. Everyone says that Tesla doesn't need more jobs on the books for their techs, but in this case it's a fairly small set of cars that were produced before. Maybe 50k? Something like that? I doubt the take rate would be 100% either, especially if this was priced at like $500 or something. Tesla would make $300+ on it from the look of cost of parts plus maybe an hour of mobile service time and probably 20 to 30% of customers would actually go for this.
Rotation used to be $50 but just went up this week to $65 in southern CA.

I completely agree with what you said. I heard Tesla is planning to offer the retrofit but it's been a year and nothing, probably just not a high priority in their list of initiatives. Of course now that I go through it all they will probably release it next week LOL. Could also be that there are variations in some Model Y's that may not be compatible and could be difficult to offer to some and not others?

The 'standard' air intake on the MY really is horrible. It not only sucks in ANY odor from outside, it also is a magnet for all leaves and debris and clogs up the hvac system (not to mention the horrible vinegar filter issue). So far the unofficial HEPA retrofit has been great, air quality and airflow is improved with the bioweapon unlock, and no more debris entering the system.
 
just got my invoice whilest I wait for an HV replacement as well for the HEPA
This is what they sent me as my invoice:
Rear apron, HEPA MY (1619812-00-B)
HEPA DUCT MY (1499137-99-C)

Total parts amount $36

They forgot the HEPA Filter so will ask them to add

I also have HV Battery (Dual Motor) (Remove and Replace)
 
LOL. Could also be that there are variations in some Model Y's that may not be compatible and could be difficult to offer to some and not others?
Never thought about this but I could see it being an obstacle. If nothing else, it would lower the number of possible eligible retrofits.
just got my invoice whilest I wait for an HV replacement as well for the HEPA
This is what they sent me as my invoice:
Rear apron, HEPA MY (1619812-00-B)
HEPA DUCT MY (1499137-99-C)

Total parts amount $36

They forgot the HEPA Filter so will ask them to add

I also have HV Battery (Dual Motor) (Remove and Replace)
Good luck with the parts and the HV Replacement!
 
Anyone know what to do if you have a 2020 model y without the holes for the bolts? Is there a workaround?