Is it fair to say they “cut corners”? They bought the best screen available at the time at size they wanted, and then tested it in-house. It’s not like the screen has terrible specs, but it is not rated to operate at 130°C.
So they tried adding software to keep the cabin below 50°C even when the car is parked, but either it doesn’t work all the time or people turn the feature off, of someone is parked in the sun long enough to run the battery below 20%.
The trade off was a higher rate of warranty repairs in order to build the car they wanted to build.
I think in the case of the Model 3, partially how they solved it is through special glass they used above the front seats. I’ve been wondering why the glass is so unique above the front seats but not the same tint for the rest of the roof glass. It’s very interesting — water droplets on the glass above the front seats look almost blood red. Now I’m guessing it’s filtering to block IR or other solar gain which might otherwise burn out the screen.
According to the article the screen has good specs -- but it doesn't quite meet even the lowest-quality rating for automotive screens, and that sure seems like it's the proximate cause for the thermal failures they're experiencing.
I'm not sure whether it's fair to say they "cut corners," but I'm not sure it's not fair. The other alternatives could have been finding a supplier willing to work with them on an oversized screen that met at least Automotive Grade 4 standards, or being willing to redesign the instrument panel to take a smaller screen. (Or two smaller screens.)
> The trade off was a higher rate of warranty repairs in order to build the car they wanted to build.
Warranty repairs? Tesla has described these as a small number of "goodwill repairs" and summarily begun denying them even to new car owners as "cosmetic, won't fix".
So they tried adding software to keep the cabin below 50°C even when the car is parked, but either it doesn’t work all the time or people turn the feature off, of someone is parked in the sun long enough to run the battery below 20%.
The trade off was a higher rate of warranty repairs in order to build the car they wanted to build.
I think in the case of the Model 3, partially how they solved it is through special glass they used above the front seats. I’ve been wondering why the glass is so unique above the front seats but not the same tint for the rest of the roof glass. It’s very interesting — water droplets on the glass above the front seats look almost blood red. Now I’m guessing it’s filtering to block IR or other solar gain which might otherwise burn out the screen.
https://images.app.goo.gl/DBaQeKoWkWTGYqk76