Winter issues - how are your cars performing in Canada?

Oyvind.H · May 9, 2013

Hello,

I`m Norwegian and eagery awaiting my Model S this fall! For european buyers Tesla has come up with a "winter pack" which contains heated rear seats, heated windscreen wipers/nozzles and upgraded defroster nozzles on the dashboard (probably the same vents that you Canadians get for free?)

What I hope you canadian owners can answer is:
1. Does the vent upgrade make a big difference in removing ice (maybe people got it too late this winter to test it)?
2. Is the vent upgrade neccessary to remove fog properly from the front window?
3. Would you pay about $1500 to get heated rear seats and heated windshiled wipers/nozzles?
4. Have you had trouble with frozen wipers or frozen wiper fluid?

Best regards
Oyvind

Doug_G · May 10, 2013

Oyvind.H said:
1. Does the vent upgrade make a big difference in removing ice (maybe people got it too late this winter to test it)?

It was too late in the season to test it under severe conditions, but from what I've seen it will at the minimum be an enormous improvement.

Oyvind.H said:
2. Is the vent upgrade neccessary to remove fog properly from the front window?

Yes.

The windshield is actually less of an issue than the driver's side window, which I have had completely frost over. I had to stop on a road trip and buy a scraper so I could use my side window and rear view mirror.

Oyvind.H said:
3. Would you pay about $1500 to get heated rear seats and heated windshiled wipers/nozzles?

Maybe.

We only use the rear seats occasionally. It would be most useful on a road trip, when you're trying to minimize power consumption. I don't really need them myself.

Heated wipers/nozzles would be useful.

Oyvind.H said:
4. Have you had trouble with frozen wipers or frozen wiper fluid?

No.

I doubt the nozzles will freeze up if you use decent washer fluid.

I suspect the wipers are vulnerable to freezing up, though. Hasn't happened to me yet, but I would not be surprised to see it. Probably will happen.

montgom626 · May 10, 2013

I live in Wisconsin. I would have purchased the winter pack if it had been offered in the USA.

Oyvind.H · May 10, 2013

I really appreciate your input!
1: Good to hear! This means that the new vents do a great job.

2: This is what bothers me. We have very strong consumer laws here in Norway, which means that Tesla will be forced to fix extensive fogging on the windshield and the front door windows. It really bothers me that Tesla tries to instert into the "winter pack" something that is`nt really a "winter" function, and a fix they`ll have to install anyways! I would really prefer them to make it standard instead of a fix forced upon them a year down the road

3: Long story short: for me heated rear seats and heated wipers is`nt worth $1500

4: The nozzles should not freeze. AFAIK neither Leaf nor iMiev have problems with frozen nozzles, and they have no nozzle heating.

To me the winter pack seems to be selling in Norway just because people are uncertain of what it contains and wether it`s neccessary or not. Noone wants to regret skipping a $1500 addon on a $100.000 car, but at the moment the pack seems way overpriced!

djromain · May 10, 2013

Even in North of France, I 'm asking myself if I really need to add this option. From December to middle of mars, we also had frozen temperatures, ofter under -5°C. I made my 2x80 kms commute every day to work with my nissan leaf, and it wasn't easy between choosing heat cabine no to have front window frozen, or to drive slowly to reach my destination... That is a reason why next Winter will be with a Model S and not Nissan LEAF. So I would not like to have similar problems of frozen.
Do you think I will have problems without this winter package ?

Doug_G · May 10, 2013

The fogging/frosting problem only occurs in extremely high humidity - which we get a lot of. Also it is much worse in extreme temperatures. It is only a nuissance at -5C. It is a problem at -20C.

Nuvolari · May 10, 2013

Doug_G said:
The fogging/frosting problem only occurs in extremely high humidity - which we get a lot of. Also it is much worse in extreme temperatures. It is only a nuissance at -5C. It is a problem at -20C.

Doug_G, thanx a lot for you input! A follow up question, do you think frost on driver's side window will be a problem even if you pre heat the car and maintain the temperature in the cabin?

Doug_G · May 10, 2013

Nuvolari said:
Doug_G, thanx a lot for you input! A follow up question, do you think frost on driver's side window will be a problem even if you pre heat the car and maintain the temperature in the cabin?

Yes. It progressively frosts over even if the cabin is warm.

IMHO the vent upgrade should be automatic on all cars delivered to locations with "real" winter conditions. It should not be part of an options package. It's not optional - it is mandatory.

William13 · May 10, 2013

We had a mild winter. My wipers did not freeze. The Tesla wipers retract under the hood. They will not stop on the windshield. They could be very difficult to clean ice off the blades. I used a few gallons of washer fluid cleaning the windshield and its wipers this winter.

My car had very mild fogging with the perforated defrost dash design. I prefer this design and prefer form over function in this case. I am still surprised the revised design didn't simply block perforations in the middle to force air to the drivers side.

PatP · May 10, 2013

Doug_G said:
Yes. It progressively frosts over even if the cabin is warm.

IMHO the vent upgrade should be automatic on all cars delivered to locations with "real" winter conditions. It should not be part of an options package. It's not optional - it is mandatory.

+1 - totally agree.

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Winter issues - how are your cars performing in Canada?

Oyvind.H

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