A newly published patent application reveals how the Tesla Model 3 HVAC system works, and it is way cooler than it sounds. Trevor from the Tesla Model 3 Owners Club broke it down in a new YouTube video which we have embedded below for your convenience.
At the Tesla Model 3 reveal event, Trevor snagged some info from a Tesla engineer about how the Model 3 HVAC system works. The engineer mentioned that the Model 3 uses two intersecting planes of air, allowing the car to fine tune where the air blows without the need for complicated mechanical vents and louvers.
The new Tesla patent application shows cross-sectional views of the HVAC system that give us a little bit more information about how Tesla accomplishes that and where those two planes of air come from. The application describes that the system blows air out the main vent horizontally, which then intersects another plane of air coming from the bottom. The combined effect of these two planes of air is that Tesla can essentially fine tune the intensity of air from each vent for the desired effect.
It is typical Tesla to rethink and redesign every aspect of the car, and we should probably start a betting pool to guestimate how long it will take Tesla to start making its own tires … but seriously, this is a cool invention and actually serves a purpose. Using this method reduces the mechanical complexity of the HVAC system, improves its ability to direct the air in the passenger cabin, and allowed Tesla to reduce the size of the dash by eliminating the more traditional mechanical louvers and vents that clogged up the design of the dash.
That helps clean up the look of the dash while retaining all of the functionality passengers have come to expect — oh yeah, and drivers, even though they won’t be needed in a few years.
Thanks to Trevor from the Model 3 Owners Club for this informative video and the insights it contains. Head over to the Model 3 Owners Club or its Twitter feed for all the juicy details on Model 3 as they are discovered.
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