Has anyone figured out a way to remotely activate the front/rear defrosters? Being able to turn on the cabin heating generally is of course fantastic, but sometimes defrosting the front and rear windows is what I real need. It is a shame that we don't yet have that functionality on the smartphone/iphone app (there seems to be plenty of real estate for appropriate icons on the climate tab), but I understand the company has other development priorities. I am surprised that some of the third-party web-apps don't appear to have addressed this issue either (e.g. Visible Tesla/Trevor Stone). Is this on anyone else's wish list? Is there a simple work-around that I've overlooked? I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts on this.
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Remote Activation of Front/Rear Defrosters
- Thread starter NJS1207
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- Model S User Interface
This recently came up in discussion on the UK forum over on the TM site.
It seems that all is missing is a button on the app that activates the existing "DEFROST MAX" setting on the car (which you get to by pressing the front defrost button twice in succession). They could even add this without changing the app at all, just by re-mapping things so that if you choose HI temperature in the app it also turns on the various heated screens/mirrors/wipers.
We (UK owners) have collectively asked TM to consider adding it. Although much of the UK is pretty mild in winter (wet rather than icy) there are a lot of Model S owners over here who do not have garages (or even off-street parking in some cases) and the cold, damp climate means that every morning in winter requires an ice scraper all around the car. I expect that 30 minutes at HI temperature would do a pretty good job, but it's strange not to be able to activate the electrically heated rear screen, wing mirrors, and wipers remotely as well.
It seems that all is missing is a button on the app that activates the existing "DEFROST MAX" setting on the car (which you get to by pressing the front defrost button twice in succession). They could even add this without changing the app at all, just by re-mapping things so that if you choose HI temperature in the app it also turns on the various heated screens/mirrors/wipers.
We (UK owners) have collectively asked TM to consider adding it. Although much of the UK is pretty mild in winter (wet rather than icy) there are a lot of Model S owners over here who do not have garages (or even off-street parking in some cases) and the cold, damp climate means that every morning in winter requires an ice scraper all around the car. I expect that 30 minutes at HI temperature would do a pretty good job, but it's strange not to be able to activate the electrically heated rear screen, wing mirrors, and wipers remotely as well.
mknox
Well-Known Member
This should be easy for Tesla to implement in software. My last car would, depending on the ambient temperature, activate front/rear defrosters and seat heaters OR the seat coolers with a/c if it was hot when I used its remote starter.
ModelS1079
Member
plaeuschler
Member
At least this option is on the Webservice API, and you can turn on front and rear defrosters with the VisibleTesla application from your PC/Mac. So I guess it's just a matter of time until they bring it to the app as well.
Edit: actually, you can't. The respective symbols are not clickable. And the API docs don't mention any defroster commands. Sorry that I didn't check and just posted my assumption.
Edit: actually, you can't. The respective symbols are not clickable. And the API docs don't mention any defroster commands. Sorry that I didn't check and just posted my assumption.
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Also, the rear seat heater settings are reset every time the car is turned off, but the front seat heater settings are retained. I have to keep turning the rear seat heaters back on.
Good thought. Glad to hear you have been pushing for something similar. I have no doubt we will see this functionality in the app eventually, particularly with many thousands of owners experiencing their first winter with the car.
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I emailed my customer advocate when the app first came out, and mentioned it to my service center folks on a couple of occasions --- they said they would submit a request too. If you have any thoughts on the most productive avenue for submitting such requests, please let me know. I'd be happy to send in another email or make a call.
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Where do you turn them on through Visible Tesla? I can see the icons for the front and rear defrosters under the HVAC tab, but clicking the icons doesn't appear to do anything. I assumed they were there as status indicators only (i.e., to tell you if the front/rear defrosters had been activated manually).
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I emailed my customer advocate when the app first came out, and mentioned it to my service center folks on a couple of occasions --- they said they would submit a request too. If you have any thoughts on the most productive avenue for submitting such requests, please let me know. I'd be happy to send in another email or make a call.
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Where do you turn them on through Visible Tesla? I can see the icons for the front and rear defrosters under the HVAC tab, but clicking the icons doesn't appear to do anything. I assumed they were there as status indicators only (i.e., to tell you if the front/rear defrosters had been activated manually).
plaeuschler
Member
Oops, you are right. Just assumed the same, but actually you can't click them. Also, the API doc (Tesla Model S JSON API—by apiary.io) doesn't mention any defroster commands. Sorry for the wrong information.
I would also like to be able to remotely turn this stuff on.
I was originally torqued that the S didn't come with a heated steering wheel. However, with pre-heating the cabin, I don't feel it is needed. Set the climate control to 75 for 30/60 minutes and everything in the car is warmed up. I pre-heated to "HI" one time for fun--it felt like the inside of the car was melting a little when I got in.
-m
I was originally torqued that the S didn't come with a heated steering wheel. However, with pre-heating the cabin, I don't feel it is needed. Set the climate control to 75 for 30/60 minutes and everything in the car is warmed up. I pre-heated to "HI" one time for fun--it felt like the inside of the car was melting a little when I got in.
-m
I would also like to be able to remotely turn this stuff on.
I was originally torqued that the S didn't come with a heated steering wheel. However, with pre-heating the cabin, I don't feel it is needed. Set the climate control to 75 for 30/60 minutes and everything in the car is warmed up. I pre-heated to "HI" one time for fun--it felt like the inside of the car was melting a little when I got in.
-m
How long does the climate control remain on without someone in the car after turning it on remotely? In the past for me its turned off automatically after what seemed like 10 mins, but perhaps that's because the car wasn't plugged in?
I thought it stays in until it reaches target temp?
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If you set the climate controls to manual air flow to the windshield before leaving the car, and then turn on the climate from the app, would that actually defrost the windshield?
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