Air Conditioning in Arizona Heat

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GerryAZ said:
mamarley said:
GerryAZ said:
Edited to add: The A/C compressor reaches full output once vehicle is moving above 18 mi/hr, but it starts ramping up above about 12 mi/hr. According to the energy use display on the navigation screen, it draws a maximum of 1.5 kW while stopped and it can approach 4.5 kW on an extremely hot day after being parked in the sun when moving above 18 mi/hr until it cools down the interior (power fluctuates to match cooling needs).

Are these numbers for before or after you had the dealer change the settings?

These numbers are recent observations so after the setting changes. The 12-volt battery was completely discharged in January (sat for a few days) due to telematics upgrade so I don't know if the settings reverted to default. The settings only affect the energy use while stopped or below 12 mi/hr. The ramping and cooling capability above 18 mi/hr are not affected by the settings.

My (presumably-unmodified) 2014 LEAF shows those exact same numbers, so it sounds like your setting may have gotten reverted at some point. Anyway, I am glad to find out about this. I am going to call the dealer tomorrow and ask them if they can do this to mine!
 
I was afraid my settings might have reverted to default. I am not going to hire the dealer to reprogram the settings again because I anticipate needing to replace the 12-volt battery in the next year or so. I wish there was a way to change them without Consult 3+ so I could do it myself. I have actually considered trying to obtain a Consult 3+ setup, but have not made up my mind to spend the money yet.
 
I have the 2015 Leaf S with the original air conditioning from the factory. It cools the cabin mediocre but deffinitly not ice cold. In 110 PHX heat, full blast at max AC is just barely adequate not to be actually uncomfortable.

Im sure if I got the AC recharged, it would be a bit colder.
 
eyedrop said:
I have the 2015 Leaf S with the original air conditioning from the factory. It cools the cabin mediocre but deffinitly not ice cold. In 110 PHX heat, full blast at max AC is just barely adequate not to be actually uncomfortable.

Im sure if I got the AC recharged, it would be a bit colder.

Are you using Recirculate?
 
eyedrop said:
I have the 2015 Leaf S with the original air conditioning from the factory. It cools the cabin mediocre but deffinitly not ice cold. In 110 PHX heat, full blast at max AC is just barely adequate not to be actually uncomfortable.

Im sure if I got the AC recharged, it would be a bit colder.

There is something wrong with your A/C system. I believe there was a service campaign or recall about the A/C in the S models that included the 2015 so you should check with your dealer and get it fixed.
 
Dont get me wrong, it does blow fairly cold and is just adequate for extreme heat. But I just dont find the leaf to have particularly ice cold AC like some other cars do... I think it really comes down to recharging the AC. If it was brand new, im sure it would be ice cold, but my car is already 2 years old.

And my girlfriend actually owns a 2013 S that just had a recall done. Her AC didnt work at all. Something about a fauly hose design. The dealer fixed her up.
 
eyedrop said:
Dont get me wrong, it does blow fairly cold and is just adequate for extreme heat. But I just dont find the leaf to have particularly ice cold AC like some other cars do... I think it really comes down to recharging the AC. If it was brand new, im sure it would be ice cold, but my car is already 2 years old.

And my girlfriend actually owns a 2013 S that just had a recall done. Her AC didnt work at all. Something about a fauly hose design. The dealer fixed her up.

I never had issues with the A/C in 2011 with 3-1/2 years and 50,000 miles of use and no issues so far with 2015 in almost 2-1/2 years use and 44,000 miles so I think you should have yours checked if you are not happy with it. It is a hermetically sealed system like a home air conditioner so it should not lose refrigerant over time like conventional compressors with shaft seals which leak.
 
cwerdna said:
Phatcat73 said:
Did the cars you test drove have tinted windows? With all the heat related degradation issues the Bolt and I3 have active cooling to better tolerate the AZ heat.
FWIW, just the other day, 2 Vegas i3 folks were encountering their i3 severely limiting output to the point of losing power or being unable to move.

Seems like folks those folks need to run the AC to cool the battery while sitting for awhile or preconditioning to cool down the battery. One of them showed an OAT of 122 F (https://www.facebook.com/groups/BMWi3/permalink/1553014828105706/).

https://www.facebook.com/groups/BMWi3/permalink/1552994008107788/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BMWi3/permalink/1553024438104745/ - mentioned 113 F
It is a bad idea to run A/C while the car is sitting if the battery is not cooled down concurrently.
It is rather like treating the battery as an egg to be fried.
 
Test drive yesterday; autonation Tempe AZ -- 7/25, in the heat of the afternoon around 3pm; high temp yesterday was 101. The car said 104. It wasn't particularly hot; we are into "monsoonal" weather patterns now.
Had never driven one before...

the battery was nearly 100% charged.

(they had several, by the way; maybe 5 Ss and one SL; apparently they imported a bunch from OR)

The car was sitting baking in the sun, quite possibly all day.

The saleman brought it up front to us, and the AC was running then for about 5 minutes while he went over various topics.
The drive consisted of about 3-4 miles driving on mostly arterial (i.e 40-45mph) and two miles back on freeway. Afterwards we were inside car for another 5-10 minutes (i.e. not moving much)
In all the ac was "on" for about 1/2 hour. As far as i could tell it was on "max" the whole time.

We both thought the car never reach a comfortable temperature. it felt cool when i held up my hand to the vent, just not enough i guess.

My wife really wants av EV but we were both put off by prospect of having an uncomfortable car.
 
SageBrush said:
ebeighe said:
As far as i could tell it was on "max" the whole time..
Can you specify the setting ?
Not sure of how exactly to express all the settings... it seemed like it was set to 60 degrees, and the blower fan was going pretty loudly. Near the end of the test drive i slowed down the fan because it was pretty loud and it (being fast) didn't seem to be doing much if any extra cooling.
[edit: ECO mode was definitely off ]
 
Your not in ECO mode are you?
In ECO the AC among other things are dialed down to less than 100% output.
 
jjeff said:
Your not in ECO mode are you?
In ECO the AC among other things are dialed down to less than 100% output.
ah, yes, did know about that...should have said: ECO mode was definitely off.

So just ran into a new leaf owner; more common this month due to the AZ / SRP rebate deal and he's perfectly happy with level of air conditioning... so maybe i'm just being over-sensitive.
 
60 is the lowest. the key thing is face only air flow and recirculate. I find the front gets plenty cool, the back only so-so so aiming the vents becomes critical for that.

FYI; even with thermostat set to 80, it still max'es out until it reaches its set point. If it was that uncomfortable, guessing you were well beyond that.
 
if the test car was an SL with black leather interior, they really absorb heat when parked in the sun. The trick is to crack rear windows and switch to outside air intake for a few minutes (A/C fan at fairly high speed and temperature setting reasonable, say 76 F) to exhaust hot air rather than trying to cool it. After exhausting hot air, switch to Auto (which will return it to recirculate) and close rear windows. The light colored interior of the 2011 did not get as hot when parked.
 
GerryAZ said:
if the test car was an SL with black leather interior, they really absorb heat when parked in the sun. The trick is to crack rear windows and switch to outside air intake for a few minutes (A/C fan at fairly high speed and temperature setting reasonable, say 76 F) to exhaust hot air rather than trying to cool it. After exhausting hot air, switch to Auto (which will return it to recirculate) and close rear windows. The light colored interior of the 2011 did not get as hot when parked.
Flushing the hot air out of the car but relying on the A/C to expel all the heat taken up by the interior that has baked in a greenhouse is a fool's errand. That could easily be 15 kWh of heat on top of ambient.

1. Crack windows when parked
2. Park in the shade, or park facing the sun with a good solar shield on the front windshield

It is not difficult to keep the interior at ~ ambient
 
DaveinOlyWA said:
60 is the lowest. the key thing is face only air flow and recirculate. I find the front gets plenty cool, the back only so-so so aiming the vents becomes critical for that.

FYI; even with thermostat set to 80, it still max'es out until it reaches its set point. If it was that uncomfortable, guessing you were well beyond that.
You live in an area that gets nowhere near as hot as Phoenix. Some crazy temps I've posted earlier: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=307296#p307296. You probably know the guy I'm talking about. He's well-known on Priuschat.
 
SageBrush said:
GerryAZ said:
if the test car was an SL with black leather interior, they really absorb heat when parked in the sun. The trick is to crack rear windows and switch to outside air intake for a few minutes (A/C fan at fairly high speed and temperature setting reasonable, say 76 F) to exhaust hot air rather than trying to cool it. After exhausting hot air, switch to Auto (which will return it to recirculate) and close rear windows. The light colored interior of the 2011 did not get as hot when parked.
Flushing the hot air out of the car but relying on the A/C to expel all the heat taken up by the interior that has baked in a greenhouse is a fool's errand. That could easily be 15 kWh of heat on top of ambient.

1. Crack windows when parked
2. Park in the shade, or park facing the sun with a good solar shield on the front windshield

It is not difficult to keep the interior at ~ ambient

I usually do, but am guessing the test car was sitting in the sun all day and completely closed up. Even cracking the windows does nothing for the black interior absorbing heat--with windows wide open the interior will still be hotter than outside.
 
GerryAZ said:
SageBrush said:
GerryAZ said:
if the test car was an SL with black leather interior, they really absorb heat when parked in the sun. The trick is to crack rear windows and switch to outside air intake for a few minutes (A/C fan at fairly high speed and temperature setting reasonable, say 76 F) to exhaust hot air rather than trying to cool it. After exhausting hot air, switch to Auto (which will return it to recirculate) and close rear windows. The light colored interior of the 2011 did not get as hot when parked.
Flushing the hot air out of the car but relying on the A/C to expel all the heat taken up by the interior that has baked in a greenhouse is a fool's errand. That could easily be 15 kWh of heat on top of ambient.

1. Crack windows when parked
2. Park in the shade, or park facing the sun with a good solar shield on the front windshield

It is not difficult to keep the interior at ~ ambient

I usually do, but am guessing the test car was sitting in the sun all day and completely closed up. Even cracking the windows does nothing for the black interior absorbing heat--with windows wide open the interior will still be hotter than outside.
That is why you want to use a sun shield!
 
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