Winter Driving Experiences

[Doug_G]

I totally agree with mknox. I've done 304 km (190 miles) at -20C and in a nasty snowstorm, with the heat on. And still had a safe reserve range when I arrived.

I've done a couple of trips in the Roadster in winter conditions, and you can't use the cabin heat at all. After a couple of hours the seat heater just doesn't cut it, you're pretty chilled out! Yet in the Model S I can do even longer trips in total comfort. Despite the cabin being much larger than the Roadster's, it takes a fraction as much energy to heat.

Model S is supposed to have a heat pump, for heating and cooling. I suspect it uses the drive train/battery pack as a reservoir because once things are warmed up the cabin heat power consumption drops dramatically. Plus you can set it to "Range Mode" to limit the consumption.

On one trip last winter I tried driving in similar conditions with the heater on (in Range mode) and off. The variations in power consumption due to road elevation changes were much larger than the additional power draw. I came to the conclusion there was no point turning off the cabin heat unless you were really falling short on range.

 

[bsd]

I did a couple of 100-200km trips in the -5°C and -11°C cold this past week. Despite prewarming the cabin for 15-20 minutes prior, I still saw the consumption spike to 600kwh and regen was disabled for a surprisingly long time. I think initiating a battery charge before leaving is the only solution here.

2) Separate the wipers from the windshield before starting the car.
3) Don't open the rear doors until the car is fully heated.

My wipers had been working, but failed spectacularly (hanging off the side of the car) as we were on the highway heading into a snow storm. Fortunately we weren't far along and the roads weren't yet slick from salt.

Opening the doors when cold does sound like ice is cracking, even when the car is prewarmed.

I'm still holding judgment on whether "Model S is Perfect for Winter."

 

[mknox]

My wipers had been working, but failed spectacularly (hanging off the side of the car) as we were on the highway heading into a snow storm. Fortunately we weren't far along and the roads weren't yet slick from salt.

Second report of wiper failure in the cold I've seen. I've had other cars with wipers frozen to the glass and all they did was groan a bit or blow a fuse. This is good to know. I'm almost tempted to put a sticky note on the dash reminding me to turn the wipers fully off when I get out of the car. I'll definatly be using that new "Service Mode" when I park outside and it's snowing!

 

[Mario Kadastik]

Second report of wiper failure in the cold I've seen. I've had other cars with wipers frozen to the glass and all they did was groan a bit or blow a fuse. This is good to know. I'm almost tempted to put a sticky note on the dash reminding me to turn the wipers fully off when I get out of the car. I'll definatly be using that new "Service Mode" when I park outside and it's snowing!

Anyone with the cold weather package, that should pre-heat the wipers and nozzles, any clue as to if this can be triggered through the remote app as well or does it coincide with something else that can be triggered from remote app? I know my car has it, but as it's not here yet I'd like to get a feel what to expect

 

[RDoc]

IMHO, Tesla should fix the wiper problem with something like an over-current cutout. Also, it doesn't seem sensible to me that the wipers should start when the car is started even if they were left on when the car was last used.

The windows freezing to the weather seal sounds harder, but I don't believe this is a common problem on all cars, so it should be possible to fix or at least alleviate the problem. It's quite understandable that details like this would be missed in a new car, but they should be addressed by Tesla.

 

[Doug_G]

If you've got ice on the car, use the remote app to heat the cabin up. Once the cabin is toasty all this ice on wipers and doors melts and/or softens, and it's not an issue.

 

[mknox]

If you've got ice on the car, use the remote app to heat the cabin up. Once the cabin is toasty all this ice on wipers and doors melts and/or softens, and it's not an issue.

I would do that, but my wife would not. I frequently come out to find her car with the wipers mid swipe where they just happened to land when she shut the car off. If I catch it, I'll peel them off the glass and leave them standing up so they're not going to strain away the next time the car is started and they try to finish their sweep.

 

[npod]

The wipers were fixed under warranty and it took maybe half an hour. The window seals didn't need fixing and I may not be describing the problem well. What happens is that even a tiny amount of moisture at the bottom outside of the rear windows freezes and acts like hard glue between the seal and the window, preventing it from lowering. Sliding a credit card along the seal between the rubber and glass would probably take care of it, but it can be done with finger pressure as well. What happens if you don't do this is that the window pops out of the slot in the seal closest to the roof and won't go back in unless the window is lowered slightly. This prevents you from closing the door. You can use the finger or credit card approach the loosen the window and lower it, but I didn't know that when it first happened.

 

[Forty Creek]

Anyone with the cold weather package, that should pre-heat the wipers and nozzles, any clue as to if this can be triggered through the remote app as well or does it coincide with something else that can be triggered from remote app? I know my car has it, but as it's not here yet I'd like to get a feel what to expect

No, unfortunately the seat heaters (and I strongly suspect the wipers and nozzles) can not be triggered by the remote app. I called Tesla and they confirmed that the seats can't be warmed until the car is actually turned on. Not sure if this ability could be added in the future.

 

[Raven]

I came to the conclusion there was no point turning off the cabin heat unless you were really falling short on range.

Totally agree. I've done 200miles a few times at temps as low as -7 F (avg. ~65mph and arrived with ~50 remaining). Over the same exact route at temps of 40-50F, I arrived with 25 miles and that was with slowing about 10mph and drafting a semi for 40 miles. Winds were head on at about 25kts, gusting 35 at times. Headwinds are the deciding factor. Once cabin is up to temp, I think power usage by the heater is negligible on extended trips.

 

[Mario Kadastik]

No, unfortunately the seat heaters (and I strongly suspect the wipers and nozzles) can not be triggered by the remote app. I called Tesla and they confirmed that the seats can't be warmed until the car is actually turned on. Not sure if this ability could be added in the future.

Yes, looking at the manual it seems that wiper heaters (and nozzles in the same go) are only turned on through the control panel so they don't happen in cohort of anything else, otherwise one might hope for triggering it with with heating for example or what not. But this could be a feature request to Tesla that one could enable that remote interior heating would also warm the wipers and nozzles in case sub-zero temperatures are registered.

 

[mknox]

Yes, looking at the manual it seems that wiper heaters (and nozzles in the same go) are only turned on through the control panel so they don't happen in cohort of anything else, otherwise one might hope for triggering it with with heating for example or what not. But this could be a feature request to Tesla that one could enable that remote interior heating would also warm the wipers and nozzles in case sub-zero temperatures are registered.

Should be easy to do. My former Cadillac would do certain things depending on temperature. If the temperature was below a certain point, it would turn on front and rear defrosters and seat heaters along with the heat. If above a certain temperature, it would turn on the seat coolers along with the a/c.

 

[Doug_G]

We're about to get our first "winter driving experience" of the season. A nice big blizzard is coming in tonight. We haven't had a big snowstorm this early in a long time.

 

[Jeeps17]

We're about to get our first "winter driving experience" of the season. A nice big blizzard is coming in tonight. We haven't had a big snowstorm this early in a long time.

I'm actually looking forward to it, since it will let me try out the ventilation retrofit and possible 5.8 TC tweaks in winter conditions for the first time.

This thread is about to get rather busy, methinks...

 

[mnx]

I'm actually looking forward to it, since it will let me try out the ventilation retrofit and possible 5.8 TC tweaks in winter conditions for the first time.

This thread is about to get rather busy, methinks...

That reminds me I was getting a ton of fogging on Sunday when it got really cold out on the drivers side window. The HVAC on auto isn't all that great. I simply cranked the fan up and set it to come out all vents and that cleared the fogging rather quickly.

 

[mknox]

That reminds me I was getting a ton of fogging on Sunday when it got really cold out on the drivers side window. The HVAC on auto isn't all that great. I simply cranked the fan up and set it to come out all vents and that cleared the fogging rather quickly.

So far, no problems at all on Auto. Not even a hint of fogging. For me, it gets bad when it's both cold and damp. Wet winter clothes and boots really get the fog going. As soon as I suspect it (in any car) I will turn the fan speed up and try and direct flow towards the glass using either the dash vents or the defroster.

 

[Doug_G]

There have been massive improvements in the HVAC algorithms since last winter. I can mostly leave it on Auto now. It no longer dials the fan back to the point of fogging over, and it decides on its own at appropriate times to put air on the windshield.

Sometimes I do press the defog button (one click, not two) in very humid conditions, but other than that I haven't had to manually adjust anything. We'll see if that holds up once the real winter gets underway. The low defog setting is actually quite decent; last year the only defog setting was "sauna". And when you turned it off the fan went to very low and the windshield fogged over again. I was constantly tinkering with the settings. No problem so far - the settings don't end up wonky when you turn off defog!

 

[mnx]

Interesting. I think my fan was at 1-2 via Auto before I cranked it up. At least it was only the driver side window and not the windshield, so it's definitely an improvement over last year.

There have been massive improvements in the HVAC algorithms since last winter. I can mostly leave it on Auto now. It no longer dials the fan back to the point of fogging over, and it decides on its own at appropriate times to put air on the windshield.

Sometimes I do press the defog button (one click, not two) in very humid conditions, but other than that I haven't had to manually adjust anything. We'll see if that holds up once the real winter gets underway. The low defog setting is actually quite decent; last year the only defog setting was "sauna". And when you turned it off the fan went to very low and the windshield fogged over again. I was constantly tinkering with the settings. No problem so far - the settings don't end up wonky when you turn off defog!

 

[Doug_G]

Interesting. I think my fan was at 1-2 via Auto before I cranked it up. At least it was only the driver side window and not the windshield, so it's definitely an improvement over last year.

We'll see. The biggest failing last year was the tendency to dial the fan back too much. You need air flow to keep the windshield clear when it's -20C and 98% humidity.

 

[mknox]

There have been massive improvements in the HVAC algorithms since last winter.

My only complaint is that mine can't regulate the temperature on its own very well. I think that's been fixed on newer models with the addition of the aspirator on the internal temperature sensor. When it was milder, I had to set it at about 68 to keep it comfortable, but when it got really cold, I had to dial it back to 65 otherwise it would just constantly blast heat. I think the material around the non-aspirated sensor gets hot or cold soaked and skews the readings.