Tint level

[Zietzke]

I’m going with 35% all around. Nothing on the windshield. Never understood why you would tint more than the top edge. Thanks for the comments/input.

IMO the windshield is one of the most important to tint, even a very light 70 percent ceramic carbon that blocks at least 90 percent of UV. That’s where most of the heat entering the car comes from, heats the entire black dash and the back of the touch screen.

 

[Floydsox]

Second thought, I realized after I got hte car the roof and rear windshield have tint on them already. And it's pretty dark. I'd like to try to just tint the side windows to match the level of the tint of the roof. Can anybody more familiar with tint levels give me an estimate on the % to get on the side windows to match the main roof segment?
Thanks!

From what I read in other topics on this forums is 25%. Some also said 3%-5% but nothing over 25.

I did 20% with white seats and glad i did. Looks great

 

[MaxYasgur]

It really depends on what your reasons for tinting are. If you are concerned about privacy, then you need to choose a darker tint. If you don't care about privacy and are mainly concerned about heat rejection, the best ceramic tints on the market have great heat-rejecting properties even at lighter tint percentages. I personally did not want to darken my white interior and I did not want to have any issues seeing at night, so I chose 55% Xpel Prime XR Plus all around.

If you want the tint to help keep the cabin cooler, then yes, you do want to tint the entire rear window. My tint installer would not tint the smaller roof window directly above the driver. He said Tesla told him that the small roof window might crack. But I have a 2018 model, so maybe that no longer applies to more recent versions of the car.

Here is a great video on Youtube that demonstrates the tint levels:

Thanks. This is very helpful. I'm surprised at how clear the 55% looks. I'm looking to tint for UV and heat protection only. I don't care about privacy. VA only allows the strip above the AS-1 line on the windshield to be tinted, which I'll do. I was going to do the sides at 65%, but after looking at your video, I might go with 55%.

 

[Candleflame]

IMO the windshield is one of the most important to tint, even a very light 70 percent ceramic carbon that blocks at least 90 percent of UV. That’s where most of the heat entering the car comes from, heats the entire black dash and the back of the touch screen.

Your windscreen already blocks near 100% of UV light....

 

[Candleflame]

Thanks. This is very helpful. I'm surprised at how clear the 55% looks. I'm looking to tint for UV and heat protection only. I don't care about privacy. VA only allows the strip above the AS-1 line on the windshield to be tinted, which I'll do. I was going to do the sides at 65%, but after looking at your video, I might go with 55%.

No point to tint for heat protection as heat enters the cabin mainly via convection.
UV protection you can get the side windows tinted, the top glass/windshields are laminated so block UV light.

 

[Lashlee]

I put 50% on my windshield, 20% on the sides and back window, with 35% on the roof glass.

 

[BMWM3Man]

35%. I think any darker doesn't look good..looks dead..."lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a dolls eyes".

 

[MaxYasgur]

No point to tint for heat protection as heat enters the cabin mainly via convection.
UV protection you can get the side windows tinted, the top glass/windshields are laminated so block UV light.

Thanks for that info.

 

[michael805]

I have a blue model 3 coming with white interior and am having a hard time deciding if I want to go with 30% or 20%

 

[Zietzke]

Your windscreen already blocks near 100% of UV light....

Yeah that’s pretty generic. No info on what fraction of UV, UVA (cancer causing) UVB, UVC. Also what about IR which actually causes the heat. Anecdotally the car stays much cooler parked in direct sun before the cabin overheat kicks on vs when I first got the car with no tint installed.

 

[Jaykk3]

With white interior you should go with 20%. 30% may not be dark enough for your liking

 

[Candleflame]

Yeah that’s pretty generic. No info on what fraction of UV, UVA (cancer causing) UVB, UVC. Also what about IR which actually causes the heat. Anecdotally the car stays much cooler parked in direct sun before the cabin overheat kicks on vs when I first got the car with no tint installed.

laminated glass always blocks near 100% of UV. someone posted the side glass filteration here before when he requested the info from Tesla. I seem to recall it was 60% UVA and 70% UVB.

IR/UV filter isnt very relevant as the heat enters the car mostly via convection, not via radiation.... no matter what you believe. The energy has to go somewhere. Like the sunrays dont just magically turn around because you have tint. The only exception to this is that it might be slightly cooler while driving as the windchill reduces the amount of convection heat you get. But not by much as the IR/UV energy is just a small part of the total heat generated.

 

[Candleflame]

With white interior you should go with 20%. 30% may not be dark enough for your liking

20% is too dark for front windows as pedestrians, cyclists, other drivers etc cant see inside.

 

[BMWM3Man]

20% is too dark for front windows as pedestrians, cyclists, other drivers etc cant see inside.

Maybe some of our forum members are movie and rock stars! So tired of giving autographs in their Tesla.

Its not a Ferrari etc guys....no one is impressed by our Model 3.

 

[Zietzke]

laminated glass always blocks near 100% of UV. someone posted the side glass filteration here before when he requested the info from Tesla. I seem to recall it was 60% UVA and 70% UVB.

IR/UV filter isnt very relevant as the heat enters the car mostly via convection, not via radiation.... no matter what you believe. The energy has to go somewhere. Like the sunrays dont just magically turn around because you have tint. The only exception to this is that it might be slightly cooler while driving as the windchill reduces the amount of convection heat you get. But not by much as the IR/UV energy is just a small part of the total heat generated.

Thanks for the info, really interesting. So tint brings those percentages up compared to no tint. People make it seem like there’s no benefit at all since it’s “already treated glass”. Adding the extra layer just brings those percentage levels up.

 

[Candleflame]

Thanks for the info, really interesting. So tint brings those percentages up compared to no tint. People make it seem like there’s no benefit at all since it’s “already treated glass”. Adding the extra layer just brings those percentage levels up.

Teslas or any car makers side windows are definetly not completely treated.
I live in Australia now and I recommend tinting to anyone - even if you do a crystalline tint (i.e. 95% VLT or whatever).
Yes, filtering 60% of UV light out will probably prevent UVB sunburn, but this is about chronic exposure and also protecting children.

A good example is to look at old australian truck drivers - they all have really manky hands and wrists and right side of face because of the chronic sunlight exposure. They never got sunburned either.

While USA obviously has less UV radiation is still think this warrants tinting if you live in the south.

Europe front tints are illegal but they if anything get too little uv light there.

 

[Candleflame]

Maybe some of our forum members are movie and rock stars! So tired of giving autographs in their Tesla.

Its not a Ferrari etc guys....no one is impressed by our Model 3.

I get that some people think the limo look looks cool and gangster. But while they participate in traffic they gotta make sure that they can see and be seen. Its part of the spectrum of usual USA/Australian "speeding kills" mantra but "everything else goes".

 

[Pseudofinn]

laminated glass always blocks near 100% of UV. someone posted the side glass filteration here before when he requested the info from Tesla. I seem to recall it was 60% UVA and 70% UVB.

IR/UV filter isnt very relevant as the heat enters the car mostly via convection, not via radiation.... no matter what you believe. The energy has to go somewhere. Like the sunrays dont just magically turn around because you have tint. The only exception to this is that it might be slightly cooler while driving as the windchill reduces the amount of convection heat you get. But not by much as the IR/UV energy is just a small part of the total heat generated.

Can you please explain why my body is roasting when the sun is hitting me through the windscreen but not my ceramic tinted side windows? Same thing happens if I roll down the window and don't have the tint?

Someone is missing something.

 

[Candleflame]

Can you please explain why my body is roasting when the sun is hitting me through the windscreen but not my ceramic tinted side windows? Same thing happens if I roll down the window and don't have the tint?

Someone is missing something.

placebo and sun angle. And larger surface area.

 

[Pseudofinn]

placebo and sun angle. And larger surface area.

Are you serious?