Temperature control

[capt601]

On our first drive back home from the factory, and notice the temperature control is very finicky. Initially we had it set to 72 and it maintained that well. After about 1 hour, we all noticed it was getting cold. And we were having fogging issues on the front window. Selected front window defogger and it went full hot with high fan. Worked to,clear the window. Then after we were too hot went back to defog off. Then it started getting cold and 72 was not maintained. Everything was in auto. We eventually settled it on 83 after trying all different temps.
So why such a high temp setting? 72 has always been an optimum temp for cars. Outside temp was about 50. I will reset screen when we are done with breakfast as car is sitting at supercharged now.

 

[cinergi]

Currently not unusual to observe this behavior. See this post of mine: Ok stupid question -- rear heat? - Page 2
I encourage everyone experiencing this issue to email ownership @ tesla.

 

[capt601]

Currently not unusual to observe this behavior. See this post of mine: Ok stupid question -- rear heat? - Page 2
I encourage everyone experiencing this issue to email ownership @ tesla.

Exactly. Couldn't find any NFC in search but that is the issue. Will add to my report.

 

[DrTaras]

Currently not unusual to observe this behavior. See this post of mine: Ok stupid question -- rear heat? - Page 2
I encourage everyone experiencing this issue to email ownership @ tesla.

Great idea! I'm having the same issues. Like I cross posted just now, "They got the big things right but missed on the little things."

 

[dtich]

+1

maintaining cabin temp seems a bit unreliable currently. also the calibration seems off. sometimes 76 works for me, but it never is actually '76' in the car.. more like 70. and a few times it's definitely colder but the system doesn't seem to be doing much about it. needs some firmware tweaks for sure.

 

[KenEE]

+1

...it's definitely colder but the system doesn't seem to be doing much about it...

I don't know why but that sounds very funny to me

I played around with cabin temp today. If I turned the fan on hi it would make a lot of noise but I never could feel more than a slight breeze from the upper or lower vents. The main vents would blow pretty well and I could even get the rear vent to blow pretty well, but the air coming out of the rear vent felt cool in comparison to the mains. It was 45 outside.

I hope its just firmware!

 

[dtich]

I don't know why but that sounds very funny to me

I played around with cabin temp today. If I turned the fan on hi it would make a lot of noise but I never could feel more than a slight breeze from the upper or lower vents. The main vents would blow pretty well and I could even get the rear vent to blow pretty well, but the air coming out of the rear vent felt cool in comparison to the mains. It was 45 outside.

I hope its just firmware!

it was sorta meant to be funny.

point was, obviously, that normally in an hvac system when the temp threshold from the sensor data is crossed, the system ramps up the fan and/or the heating/cooling element setting to compensate and keep the temperature within the margin of tolerance, usually a couple degrees... but the system doesn't seem to even be trying to do that. so i can't tell what the issue is. faulty logic, faulty sensor, faulty data handling, faulty heating element... don't know. cause it seems to think everything's ok. lol.

my guess is that the heating element may be slightly under powered/effective.. but mainly that the algorithm for under/over temp logic is fairly loose, so that if the system senses, say, a 3º drop in temp, that's only maybe 1º below the threshold, and so it ramps the fan, but barely, and the cabin doesn't really change temp. i assume if it were to drop, say, 10 degrees, the fan would ramp much higher.. but that's a big drop and unlikely. so perhaps one thing that needs to happen is a more aggressive system response in the algorithm. that's fw for sure. underpowered heater, well, we'll see. too small or awkwardly configured vents/ducts.. also we'll see. but the first step in my mind is to get more aggressive with the system control logic.

fwiw...

 

[ddenboer]

I don't think it is underpowered, because I can get it pretty darn hot in my car if I set the temp to HI (actually, anything above 80). Anything below 80, and it is pretty hit or miss. Either my kids are too hot or way too cold. I've said before that the only way to heat the kids in the back is to close the front driver and passenger vents (face vents).
I have reported this to the service guys at Fremont, and will also report to Ownership.

BTW, has anyone EVER gotten a reply from Ownership emails? It really makes me think that no one reads them.

 

[Brian H]

I don't think it is underpowered, because I can get it pretty darn hot in my car if I set the temp to HI (actually, anything above 80). Anything below 80, and it is pretty hit or miss. Either my kids are too hot or way too cold. I've said before that the only way to heat the kids in the back is to close the front driver and passenger vents (face vents).
I have reported this to the service guys at Fremont, and will also report to Ownership.

BTW, has anyone EVER gotten a reply from Ownership emails? It really makes me think that no one reads them.

Early reports were that they were right on the stick, and guaranteed to read and respond. Then they got the tsunami. They haven't been heard from since. :wink::crying:

 

[HFh]

Given what I'm reading on this thread, I'm really curious how the car will heat the very back (for the upcoming jump seats). Are there vents back there?

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

I don't know about temp control but the heater works pretty good to preheat the car. It has been 32F and icy the past couple of mornings and I cracked my driver door and turned on front / rear defrost and seat heater for ~ 5 minutes and all the ice was gone + car was pretty warm inside. Seems a little better than most regular ICE preheating from my memory (it seems like it has been a long time now...)

 

[Doug_G]

The heating system is not underpowered. It can put out an uncomfortable amount of heat even in very cold conditions.

 

[pilotSteve]

BTW, has anyone EVER gotten a reply from Ownership emails? It really makes me think that no one reads them.

Yes, I've sent two emails to ownership and gotten responses. The last one I specifically mentioned as priority bugs (a) windshield wipers, (b) temperature control and (c) fogging windows. Also I gave some suggestions about other UI issues and they acknowledged they would pass them on to the engineering team

So.... keep sending those ideas, bug reports and suggestions. They are getting them.

 

[dtich]

The heating system is not underpowered. It can put out an uncomfortable amount of heat even in very cold conditions.

yep, i agree, i take it back... but i'm sticking w the main part of my answer.

 

[brianman]

The heating system is not underpowered. It can put out an uncomfortable amount of heat even in very cold conditions.

Yah, that's my experience as well (though I haven't been through "very" cold yet). Makes me optimistic that the "doesn't hold specified temperature well" and fogging issues can be dealt with in software or firmware without requiring physical servicing.

 

[cinergi]

Currently not unusual to observe this behavior. See this post of mine: Ok stupid question -- rear heat? - Page 2
I encourage everyone experiencing this issue to email ownership @ tesla.

Since not everyone is reading my post :smile: I'll quote it here:

I'm convinced it's a lack of airflow. I've taken measurements and reported to ownership. If I set the fan manually to 4, the temperature equalizes and becomes comfortable again. Otherwise it thinks all is well (heat rises to wherever the sensor is, fan speed goes to 2 or 1, and you develop cold spots ... as much as 8 degrees or more from the set point).

Those of you having issues, please try this (manually set the fan speed) and report back. It tends to go back to auto so make sure you check that the fan speed is actually set/manual every time you use the car.

 

[mknox]

The heating system is not underpowered. It can put out an uncomfortable amount of heat even in very cold conditions.

On a related note, I have taken two test drives on very hot days and found that the a/c cooling was also quite impressive.

 

[RDoc]

Since the heat is mainly by heat pump I wonder if there's an issue with how often they want to cycle it. Most compressors don't like being turned on and off a lot.

 

[jkirkebo]

Since the heat is mainly by heat pump I wonder if there's an issue with how often they want to cycle it. Most compressors don't like being turned on and off a lot.

I seriously hope it's an inverter style heatpump. Using ancient on/off technology in a car like the Model S makes no sense.

 

[DrTaras]

I don't know about temp control but the heater works pretty good to preheat the car. It has been 32F and icy the past couple of mornings and I cracked my driver door and turned on front / rear defrost and seat heater for ~ 5 minutes and all the ice was gone + car was pretty warm inside. Seems a little better than most regular ICE preheating from my memory (it seems like it has been a long time now...)

How do you "pre-heat"?
Do you get in the car, turn it on by putting your foot on the brake and turn on the car?
Then what? If you leave the car, won't it all turn off?