Telsa App and preconditioning car issues

[TR5642]

There are two ways to precondition a Model S that I know of:

1) Predictive mode where you set it to guess
2) Turn on the HVAC via the app

This is nice, but I cannot find any way to remotely activate the window defrosters/defoggers. I can warm/cool the cabin but unless it's been on a long time, the front and rear windows will still be fogged/frosted. This is silly. In our temperate climate here in the Bay Area, I rarely NEED the cabin heated. But it is quite common to need to heat the glass so that they don't re-fog while driving.

Am I missing something? Can I trigger front or rear window heating remotely?

Side question: When the car is plugged in, will it use shore power for preconditioning or does it drain the battery? My observations suggest that it uses battery. (Car set to start charging after 11pm to take advantage of night rates and topping at 90% then shutting off, typically around 2am. Battery drops to 88-89% by morning even without setting predictive conditioning)

 

[rpo]

There is no way to remotely turn on the defrosters (front or rear). I live in Seattle and turn on the HVAC prior to getting into the car pretty much year round and never once have had the windows fog up after getting in. The ONLY time they fog up is when I don't turn on the HVAC for at least a few minutes prior to getting in.

And, yes, it should use shore power when you turn on the HVAC when plugged in.

 

[Saghost]

I think the closest you can get is turning the temperature to max.

This is definitely an opportunity for future firmware - either as a simple button or as something fancier that uses the AP camera(s) to see if the window is fogged (though it can't monitor progress that way since the cameras are sealed to the windshield with their own separate heater.)

Maybe it could use inside and outside temperature or weather forecast to predict fogging inserted?

 

[JohnnyG]

I think the closest you can get is turning the temperature to max.

This is definitely an opportunity for future firmware - either as a simple button or as something fancier that uses the AP camera(s) to see if the window is fogged (though it can't monitor progress that way since the cameras are sealed to the windshield with their own separate heater.)

Maybe it could use inside and outside temperature or weather forecast to predict fogging inserted?

I will say that, the couple of times my car was covered in snow, and I pre-heated from the app, the windshield did clear (but the rear window obviously did not). We should be able to control literally all of the climate control functions from the app... <smh>
On a side note, I desperately want a simple memory setting for the passenger seat, as I have to adjust it full throw 4 times a week, but that's another topic.....

 

[TR5642]

On a side note, I desperately want a simple memory setting for the passenger seat, as I have to adjust it full throw 4 times a week, but that's another topic....

My wife and son would agree with you completely (5'9" and 6'3" and guess who sits where when solo or both in car )

 

[TR5642]

I think the closest you can get is turning the temperature to max.

This is definitely an opportunity for future firmware - either as a simple button

Yeah. The max option probably works but

a) it makes the cabin hot I am dressed for the cool weather. But the windshield is below the dew point and keeps fogging up from the outside for 5 minutes :-( (yes, the whinging of a CA resident)
b) it wastes a lot of energy.

I'm also wondering if the API hooks are even there. If they were, I'd suspect that one of the many third party apps would have found a way to trigger it. That's going to require an actual firmware update. You know, like the big UI enhancements, kernel and browser updates, etc. due in 8.1 Oh, wait.... Doh!

 

[Saghost]

I'm also wondering if the API hooks are even there. If they were, I'd suspect that one of the many third party apps would have found a way to trigger it. That's going to require an actual firmware update. You know, like the big UI enhancements, kernel and browser updates, etc. due in 8.1 Oh, wait.... Doh!

Reading all the things Allen does with Remote S, I'm pretty sure that if Tesla had exposed the functionality for the remote app, he would have found it.

However, as you were alluding, it's all just software. There's nothing at all limiting Tesla's ability to release new firmware with that capability this fall (and an App update to match.)

 

[Kalud]

I'm also wondering if the API hooks are even there

Unfortunately there is nothing like that in the API currently