Texas (or areas where it is hot): A/C doesn't perform as expected

[totem]

I've read a lot posts on how great the A/C is and that's not what I am experiencing.
A concern I have is about the A/C, it doesn't seem to cool as I would think it should, or at least what I am used to from previous (ICE cars...not that ICE cars have much to do with it).
Basically, we are used to setting our previous cars to ~72 in "auto" and it would cool down by pumping cold air and raise the fan level as needed down to close to that temperature.
At first I thought it was because it was in the mid 90s out there (in Texas) and the fact that the car doesn’t have tinted windows yet, but with some tests, I think there's something wrong: As a test, we got in the car around 8:20pm when there is no sun (but still in the high 80s) and set everything AC related to "auto" and to 72 degrees F. After about 20 mins, it had gone down in temperature ~3 degrees to only 82 degrees F inside the car according to the phone app (I have a screenshot from the phone app if you really want to see it). Does that align with your experiences or expectations? It seems to me that my other cars would have had a lower temperature in 20 mins running in "auto".

Is there some other tests I could/should check on to match others just to see if they are aligned? It is a long (labor day) weekend, so I won't hear back or do much with the Tesla Service center until Tuesday at the earliest.

Thank you

 

[Richg]

I live in Florida and it's been in the 90's with high humidity all summer. Tinting my windows made a huge difference. Regarding the air conditioning, I find that if I have range mode set to ON, the cooling is a bit limited for my needs.

With range mode off, I set the tempature to 65 and auto. Usually within 10 minutes, My car is cool and I move it closer to 70.

I also the Remote S app available in the App Store to turn on maximum cooling 5 minutes before I'm ready to leave. Getting into a COLD Tesla is great way to beat the Florida heat.

Bottom line, my P85D has exceptional cooling abilities in our environment.

 

[Tdriver]

First, make sure you are not in range mode. I live in the Palm Springs area where it is real hot, and this is how I adjust my AC.
1. Set the temp to 64
2. Program the right scroll wheel to adjust the fan speed.
3. Regulate your comfort level by adjusting the fan speed.
I have no problem keeping temps at comfortable levels in the heat. I will also pre-cool the car five minutes before entering if its parked in the sun.
I also put 3M Crystalline tint on the front and back windows.....helps a bunch with heat rejection.

 

[Barry]

The temp setting is not calibrated with reality. I find the A/C comfortable at 67. This would be 72 in my previous vehicle.
To cool it off more quickly, turn recirc on and/or set temp to LO initially.

 

[bob_p]

Had my P85 in Houston since early 2013 - and now through 3 summers here. I have a pano roof - and didn't add tinting to the windows.

The AC does a reasonable job cooling the car down - and keeping it cool during driving.

As others have mentioned, the temperature setting is not accurate - to keep the car at a comfortable temperature, you'll likely need to pick something in the range of 65 to 69 during the summer, and may have to adjust to a higher temperature when it's cold outside.

If you have a pano roof, when parking outside (with no rain forecast), vent the roof.

And, if possible, use the smartphone app to turn on the AC 10 to 15 minutes prior to going to the car - and by the time you get there, the inside should be pretty comfortable.

The inaccuracy of the temperature setting is annoying, but not really that big of a deal - similar to the other annoying software "features" like the lack of playlists or navigation waypoints.

 

[Chris TX]

Dallas, here. AC cools the car down fine for me. Get a nice ceramic or metallized window tint to cool things down, too. If I leave it parked outside in the sun with the roof closed and forget to pre-cool the car, it cools off quickly if I do LO, fresh air, and vent the roof, it cools off quick enough for my two girls to only complain for less than a minute

Feel free to take it by the service center for them to check the freon level.

 

[mackgoo]

As all the posts say. The only "control" in the climate control system is constant human intervention. Now, on the bright side, I was talking with tech support about a month ago and he called me back to tell me he had talked with the tech group assigned with the A/C and the word he got was V7 will address this. It should be pretty simple. The hardware is up to task I believe, it's just the software isn't really up to speed. When I set the A/C for 73 and I look at the cabin temperature via the app, it's 81, maintains 81 perfectly. In my mind all they need to do is control A/C via that cabin temperature, if the app can see it certainly the car can see it. Simply operate fan speed, compressor etc to get that cabin temperature matched to the temperature called for via the climate control setting.
It's just not right for 100K climate control to be used like the A/C system in a 10K car. That's my humble opinion.

 

[eye.surgeon]

It's a capable A/C system but the automatic control is lacking. Set it to recirc, set the temp to 64 or even LOW, set the right side steering wheel dial to fan control, and you can get it icy cold. Here in Hot Fresno I can get it so cold that I have to turn the fan down to 2 after a few minutes. left on auto, it kind of sucks, left on 72 on auto, forget about it.

 

[jerry33]

I don't have any A/C problems here in Dallas with no tinting. However, I don't really care if the temperature numbers are not calibrated--they are consistent and that's what matters:

1. Keep it out of range mode (in the summer it doesn't add appreciable range anyway as far a I can tell. Winter on short trips is a different matter).

2. Just adjust the temperature up and down as needed.

3. I don't bother with recirc or manual fan or vent settings.

4. When the car is hot, start off at 25 or 26, which will feel cool, then lower whenever you start to feel a bit warm.

The A/C is a variable speed scroll compressor unit so, unlike your ICE A/C, it runs only as hard as it needs to rather than either full on or full off. This actually makes for a more comfortable car, it's just different than what you're used to.