Feature request : Cabin Cooling Timer

westcoast · Jul 1, 2012

I love the idea of getting into my car and having it nice and cool. Here in So Cal, it's hot a lot of the time, so being able to cool the cabin while away from the car is a great idea.

However, it doesn't make much sense to cool the cabin all night, for example. Or, if you're at work, cooling it all day and depleting the battery is a waste.

What would be great would be a way to set a timer to schedule cabin cooling. So you arrive at work at 9, and set it to cabin cool to 72 degrees or whatever at 4 PM. By the time you leave the building at 5, you've got a lovely cool car waiting for you.... or in winter, you schedule the heater to turn on at 5 AM, so that it's ready for you at 6....

Jason S · Jul 1, 2012

I've supposed in the past that it'll have a learning thermostat, but I think that's just on the TBD feature list.

The remote control option was supposed to handle this kind of thing on an ad hoc basis.

For right now I've seen neither option in practice.

vfx · Jul 1, 2012

feature request

12v plug in the Frunk

shokunin · Jul 1, 2012

If we're creating a feature thread, add one for valet and teenager modes. Have configurable max speed limit like the LA event, maybe GPS datalogging, and max range.

spatterso911 · Jul 2, 2012

shokunin said:
If we're creating a feature thread, add one for valet and teenager modes. Have configurable max speed limit like the LA event, maybe GPS datalogging, and max range.

I was told that the Model S will likely have a programmable valet mode (presented as a possible feature update via the screen)

olanmills · Jul 2, 2012

I thought I remembered hearing specifically about sucah a feature (the ability to set a temperature schedule for your car) last year, maybe it was in a video or something, but I haven't heard about it since.

It was actually one of the things that made me most excited about the car. It wasn't the ability to program the temperature to a schedule per se, but the notion that software + hardware in the car would finally bring us features that we should have had a long time ago, since we've had computers in cars for a long time.

jkirkebo · Jul 2, 2012

olanmills said:
I thought I remembered hearing specifically about sucah a feature (the ability to set a temperature schedule for your car) last year, maybe it was in a video or something, but I haven't heard about it since.

The Model S better have this, such a system is standard on the Leaf. You can set a timer for climate control, or control it remotely by smartphone. You can even set a one-time timer by smart-phone, great when I take the train home but don't know in advance which train I'll be able to catch. Now I just set the timer after I get on the train so the climate control starts 15 minutes before I arrive at the station.

3lectronica · Jul 2, 2012

westcoast said:
I love the idea of getting into my car and having it nice and cool. Here in So Cal, it's hot a lot of the time, so being able to cool the cabin while away from the car is a great idea.

However, it doesn't make much sense to cool the cabin all night, for example. Or, if you're at work, cooling it all day and depleting the battery is a waste.

What would be great would be a way to set a timer to schedule cabin cooling. So you arrive at work at 9, and set it to cabin cool to 72 degrees or whatever at 4 PM. By the time you leave the building at 5, you've got a lovely cool car waiting for you.... or in winter, you schedule the heater to turn on at 5 AM, so that it's ready for you at 6....

Charging Model S | Tesla Motors

Move the slider to "Check On Your Car". This app allows you to heat or cool the cabin, just before you head to your vehicle. Your request has already been granted

FalconNinetyD · Jul 2, 2012

At the October factory event, Elon said the car would learn your habits and schedule and do things like this automagically.

http://vimeo.com/30167914 - Starts at the 3:02 mark.

westcoast said:
I love the idea of getting into my car and having it nice and cool. Here in So Cal, it's hot a lot of the time, so being able to cool the cabin while away from the car is a great idea.

However, it doesn't make much sense to cool the cabin all night, for example. Or, if you're at work, cooling it all day and depleting the battery is a waste.

What would be great would be a way to set a timer to schedule cabin cooling. So you arrive at work at 9, and set it to cabin cool to 72 degrees or whatever at 4 PM. By the time you leave the building at 5, you've got a lovely cool car waiting for you.... or in winter, you schedule the heater to turn on at 5 AM, so that it's ready for you at 6....

Robert.Boston · Jul 2, 2012

mcornwell said:
At the October factory event, Elon said the car would learn your habits and schedule and do things like this automagically.

http://vimeo.com/30167914 - Starts at the 3:02 mark.

Reminds me of the Nest thermostat.

dsm363 · Jul 2, 2012

Robert.Boston said:
Reminds me of the Nest thermostat.

I love the Nest thermostat. Created by ex-Apple employees. Think this would be a very useful feature. During the day, it would try to keep you car within a semi-comfortable range. You'd use your phone to tell it to cool all the way down. Big selling point in my mind.

onlinespending · Jul 2, 2012

Robert.Boston said:
Reminds me of the Nest thermostat.

Personally I think the Nest thermostat is a perfect example of creating a solution to a problem that never existed. Having a programmable thermostat should always do as good or better than something that supposedly learns your habits, because you can essentially program your wake, sleep, leave and return home times up-front. I suppose it's good for those that don't want to be bothered with manually programming in these times.

So as long as the Model S cabin temps can be programmed to a schedule and be changed on-demand via the remote app, then I think that covers a lot what of what we need.

dsm363 · Jul 2, 2012

From what I understand, only a small percentage of people with programable thermostats actually program it. The Nest also gives you feedback on your energy usage to encourage better habits. Is it necessary? No but it's cool. Some people have jobs with an unpredictable schedule so a set M-F schedule wouldn't work for them. The app does solve the problem though. I'm not sure the Model S needs the Nest's learning feature.

pete8314 · Jul 2, 2012

The Nest does a lot more than just learning a schedule, though that is their big marketing pitch. My previous stats were controlled by a PC that was also hooked into the alarm and local weather, so they were fairly smart. However, the Nest is better. For a start, anyone can use it. It's also clever enough to keep the fan running for a while after the compressor has shut of, on the basis that it still has a cooling capability for a good few minutes. I did program my Nests rather than letting it learn, as our routines are fairly well defined, but without question it has reduced my utility bills since it was installed, and that was despite its predecessor being highly configured to our habits.

ElSupreme · Jul 3, 2012

pete8314 said:
The Nest does a lot more than just learning a schedule, though that is their big marketing pitch. My previous stats were controlled by a PC that was also hooked into the alarm and local weather, so they were fairly smart. However, the Nest is better. For a start, anyone can use it. It's also clever enough to keep the fan running for a while after the compressor has shut of, on the basis that it still has a cooling capability for a good few minutes. I did program my Nests rather than letting it learn, as our routines are fairly well defined, but without question it has reduced my utility bills since it was installed, and that was despite its predecessor being highly configured to our habits.

A good thermostat will also do this. I actually bought and installed a programmable thermostat for my house on Sunday. I saw the Nest. My main problem was it was $250, where a name brand 7 day thermostat was only $70. That and a friend tried it in their vacation home, and they had some problems where it wouldn't turn on the furnace at all for days in the Berkshire winter, although I generally think this was because they didn't set it up correctly.

pete8314 · Jul 3, 2012

I think 'Airwave', as Nest calls it, is an exclusive feature. But regardless, the point really was that there's a potential for technology to take care of the monotony that a vast number of people cannot be bothered to do - just about all my relatives set their stat to 74 or 75 perpetually. Maybe they have a couple of settings, but nothing as elaborate as I had on my previous stats, or my Nests. Beyond that, the technology becomes adaptive, so that 'stuff just happens', without you having to think or worry about it. It's a cool concept, even trickier to get right though, it's a very fine line between being amazing intuitive and over-controlling.

jkirkebo · Jul 3, 2012

mcornwell said:
At the October factory event, Elon said the car would learn your habits and schedule and do things like this automagically.

But that only works if you have a recurring schedule. I don't

brianman · Jul 3, 2012

jkirkebo said:
But that only works if you have a recurring schedule. I don't

Having a system that ties into GPS locators (phones?) on all the members of the household seems like an algorithmically simple approach.

Whenever any family member is within 10 miles of home, start enforcing the "keep temperature between X and Y" by waking up the air conditioner or heater as needed.

pete8314 · Jul 3, 2012

That's true. Likewise, you could use geofencing logic for when you're at the office. Typically, if I'm not travelling, I'm at the office 9-6, and park in the same spot. If the app is cleaver, it should be able to check that it's a weekday and that the car is within the confines of the office parking lot. If the answer to both of those is yes, then go ahead and start cooling/heating the cabin around 5pm.

Steph · Jul 3, 2012

I bet we will have access to most controls of the car using the API so we can all make our cars do crazy things

Feature request : Cabin Cooling Timer

Member

Model S Sig Perf (P85)

Well-Known Member

Active Member

P100DL - Raven

Member

Model S P85+ VIN 14420 EU

Member

Active Member

Model S VIN P01536

Roadster + Sig Model S

Member

Roadster + Sig Model S

Vendor

Model S 03182

Vendor

Model S P85+ VIN 14420 EU

Burrito Founder

Vendor

Member

Similar threads