What happened to the Ionizer?

[David29]

Before version 9, there was a setting to turn the Ionizer on or off. the text in the user manual said, "Ionizer: If on, the air ionizer freshens the air in the cabin."

I cannot find such a control in the settings screen under version 9. I did a search through the latest manual and found no entry for the word "Ionizer."

So, what do you think? Was the setting preserved? is the ionizer now on or off according to how it was set before? or is it perhaps disabled?

Not a big thing, but curious. And not altogether surprising, given the mess that version 9 seems to be in other areas.

(PS: I would have posted this in a version 9 thread, but i did not find a sticky thread for it on the Tesla page. Sorry if I missed it.)

 

[boaterva]

I swear I’d about memorized the old manual when I first dived into things Tesla and I’ve never heard of any ‘ionizer’. I had to look at what country you were from in case this was a foreign thing and I’ve got nothing. I can’t even think what this could be except BWD mode...

Anyone?!

 

[commasign]

I remember the air ionizer too. It’s in 2014 to 2016 pre-refresh Model S. The setting disappeared in V9 and possibly at some point in V8. I’m completely speculating but it may be related to CARB rules about air ionizers in general. Ozone generating ionizers are banned in California now so maybe Tesla disabled it.

Hazardous Ozone-Generating "Air Purifiers"

 

[boaterva]

Gotcha, older models, that makes more sense. Thought I was missing something interesting!

 

[StaticDischarge]

In Aug 2017, I asked Service via email: "Some time ago, the ionizer setting was removed from the UI. Can you tell me if the setting is on or off in my Model S? If it is on, could you turn it off, where it will stay?"

They replied: "Hi, you are correct. The setting toggle was taken out and whatever setting that was selected would remain active. I confirmed remotely that your ionizer is set to off. Please let us know if you would ever want the functionality restored, we can do so remotely. Thanks!"

 

[boaterva]

Good grief. That would be nasty if it actually did something harmful (any real level of ozone (but I doubt it)) and it was on and you couldn’t tell OR turn it off.

I would hope when they remove things like that, it disables (turns off) the functionality also.

 

[neroden]

Extremely incompetent, Tesla's software team.

 

[ckoval7]

I didn't even know this was a thing. Is this in all cars of that era, or just those with the bio hazard defense mode?

 

[commasign]

I didn't even know this was a thing. Is this in all cars of that era, or just those with the bio hazard defense mode?

Just Model S between 2014 and 2016. Before bioweapon defense mode which was introduced for Model S with the refresh.

 

[thenaimis]

Is this another feature that Tesla has remotely disabled through software "upgrades"?

 

[scottm]

..that's a very expensive way to switch something on/off! If you get somebody very competent on the first call, maybe costs Tesla, what $25 - $50 (?) for the expense of a human doing this for you. Multiply this for every telephone tag on Tesla side until finding a competent person.

I wonder if the firmware just switched them all off fleet-wide at time of disappearing the button? Hoping nobody would remember or care about the feature. Put me in that camp.

If it used electricity to run, then off means better range and I'm all for that.

 

[PhilDavid]

Does anyone have any news about the present state of the air ionizer?

Is the ionizer still a part of the HVAC system and is it functioning on post facelift cars?