Tesla drivers to be spared heat wave shocks via software update

[Redaktion]

Teslas have climate control ingenuity built in them both on the physical side, like an air vent running the width of a Model 3 dashboard, and on the software side of things. With the recent heat waves scorching Texas, Elon Musk promises an OTA software update solution to the cabin temperature problem.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Tesla-drivers-to-be-spared-heat-wave-shocks-via-software-update.635068.0.html

[_MT_]

There is a simple solution - pull out your phone and active A/C remotely before you get in. A/C works quickly. Cooling an empty car for hours is plain wasteful if there is nothing in it that needs protecting from high temperatures. Something like a pet or child mode would be interesting but then 40 °C is indeed too high. Primary measure should be simply ventilating the cabin. That takes far less energy than cooling and dehumidifying. And of course, parking in a shade really helps.

[vertigo]

Agreed. People act like EVs are so much less wasteful, and act like they're helping with climate change, etc by using them (not to mention until fairly recently they got government subsidies for their cars for these supposed reasons), yet they want to waste electricity cooling an empty vehicle. Cars have these fancy new inventions call windows, just roll them down and that will help cool it down, like everyone with non-EVs does. Or as _MT_ said, use a remote control like with a remote start, as well as a schedule, since these are supposed to be smart cars.

[Anonym]

People act like EVs are so much less wasteful, and act like they're helping with climate change, etc by using them, yet they want to waste electricity cooling an empty vehicle.

Ever since renewable energies came about, one does not invalidate the other. Yes, cooling an empty car for longer than needed is definitely wasteful. However, if that energy came from a renewable source (e.g., not from petrol, coal, or gas) then they are still helping with climate change.

Furthermore, EVs unlocks the path towards energy independence from the petrostates and their authoritarian world views. Unless you live in such a petrostate or are in the pocket of a petro company, this alone should be reason enough to incentivize EVs (and other vehicles that tap into alternative energy sources).

[AnonymousLvl5]

People (including Tesla owners) in Phoenix/the Southwest are laughing at this. 104 is nothing, considering on a 90deg day temps hit 125 in a normal car. And is OTA this only Texas? And don't over load the grid?...Ya'll follow what Elon says, you hear?

Sheesh.

[vertigo]

People act like EVs are so much less wasteful, and act like they're helping with climate change, etc by using them, yet they want to waste electricity cooling an empty vehicle.

Ever since renewable energies came about, one does not invalidate the other. Yes, cooling an empty car for longer than needed is definitely wasteful. However, if that energy came from a renewable source (e.g., not from petrol, coal, or gas) then they are still helping with climate change.

Furthermore, EVs unlocks the path towards energy independence from the petrostates and their authoritarian world views. Unless you live in such a petrostate or are in the pocket of a petro company, this alone should be reason enough to incentivize EVs (and other vehicles that tap into alternative energy sources).

EV ≠ renewable. Yes, some of that electricity is coming from solar/wind/hydro power, and some from nuclear, but much of it (depending, of course, on where you are, and I'd bet this is the case in the areas discussed here) is petroleum-, gas-, and coal-sourced. So sure, if you know the electricity you're using to charge your car is coming from a renewable source, and youknow that, if you weren't using so much to cool your car, it wouldn't be able to be used elsewhere and therefore reduce the use of non-renewable sources somewhere down the chain (after all, renewable isn't infinitely available, hence the presence of other sources, so if you use more than you need, that's going to take from the limited pool available and cause less to be available, possibly resulting in non-renewables to be used to make up the difference), then go nuts. But I can pretty much guarantee 99% of people don't know these things, nor do they even care. Or, more likely, it didn't even occur to them, because people don't tend to think things through. People just think EV means environmentally-safe power, so they can use it without discretion and they're saving the planet.

I'm all for reducing dependence on fossil fuels, and agree it needs to happen. I'm not against EVs in concept. I just think in their current state there are a lot of issues that are glazed over for the sake of pushing them, largely for commercial interests, and largely because people either want to feel like they're helping even when they're not, or they somehow genuinely believe there are only upsides. And, of course, there are those that just want them because they're the new thing, or because they're fast, or because of appearance. But I've found that people, both generally and individually, tend to lose sight or, more accurately, never see in the first place, the potential negative effects of things like this, and, while I could very much be wrong, I suspect at some point in the future we're going to realize EVs just caused more fuel use and pollution because people drove more thinking it's environmentally safe, and that the batteries are going to lead to a lot of their own environmental issues.