Roof glass and A/C

Redundant

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According to the great work of salant76 and 1pt21Gigawatts, the glass roof does not have a cover. While the interior aesthetic of the big glass roof is nice it seems like it will contribute to a major heat gain in summer, which drains the batteries quickly if you run the a/c. Does this seem like a bad idea for an EV?
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Actually EV A/C units are pretty efficient these days.

The A/C on the Focus Electric would use about 2% or 3% of the battery--I barely noticed any range loss on hot days.

On the Bolt I ride around all summer with the A/C blaring and I still can get 250 miles per charge.

Resistive heaters are much much worse (and part of the reason you lose so much range in cold weather).
 

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Call me skeptical on this one. The glass may block incoming I/R, but when visible light hits and is absorbed by the interior it gets reflected back as I/R, which is then trapped by the glass - also known as the greenhouse effect. They compound this issue on the California edition by only allowing BLACK interiors to be ordered, which will only accelerate the warming - kind of like reflective sea ice in Antarctica melting and leaving behind dark water to absorb sunlight.

Who knows, maybe the coating performs some magic but it just seems too good to be true.
 

JSAlexVa

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Tesla’s do not have covers and I have a friend with a Model 3 and she has never complained. I am planning to order the light interior and I’m thinking that maybe Space White will also help with summer temperatures.
 


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Tesla’s do not have covers and I have a friend with a Model 3 and she has never complained. I am planning to order the light interior and I’m thinking that maybe Space White will also help with summer temperatures.
They sell covers that you can stick up in the roof. I am on the fence over the glass roof there are a few model 3 in our company car park and for the owners with the glass roofs we leave the parking spots under the trees free for them as in the 100+ degree weather they get very toasty inside if not parked under significant shade for the day.
 
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Well I hope the ford explanation is correct. I really like the glass roof but don’t want to cook like a chicken under it. (s)
 

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This was in one of the Mach E webpages...
Ford Mustang Mach-E Roof glass and A/C AEE9B096-9562-4B33-9B70-4F4A6C32CAE1
I'd rather have dim light. I'm more afraid of it being too bright and getting annoyingly bright sun coming in. Also, how it may make the screens harder to read.

I'd normally forego the glass roof altogether, except that the Premium comes with it, and I want the other features the Premium comes with. Plus there's an extra 1.5" of headroom with the fixed glass.
 

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Well I hope the ford explanation is correct. I really like the glass roof but don’t want to cook like a chicken under it. (s)
There are a lot of Teslas in the Valley of the Sun (Phoenix) so I'm not too concerned. Metal is a great conductor of heat so I think it makes sense that the glass can be better, especially if coated properly. I think most sunroofs don't really have fancy coatings. I put window film on the windshield of my car and it makes a huge difference.

Also, Teslas can keep the interior cab conditioned; hopefully Mach-e does the same.
 

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I have a 2014 C Max with the glass roof. It has a shade that you can close if the sun is too bright. Most of the time my shade is closed. I am disappointed that the Mach e doesn't have the shade. I will bet that the next model year will have one. My Lincoln MKC also has the shade. I believe most cars do.
 

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The Polestar 2 is evidently coming with electrochromic "smart" glass in its panoramic roof, which can be dimmed to translucent or even opaque; this type of glass is used in the new Boeing Dreamliners for their passenger seats, where you push one of several buttons to have the window go from completely transparent to completely opaque. All automakers should be using electrochromic glass in roof glass.
 

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I have a 2014 C Max with the glass roof. It has a shade that you can close if the sun is too bright. Most of the time my shade is closed. I am disappointed that the Mach e doesn't have the shade. I will bet that the next model year will have one. My Lincoln MKC also has the shade. I believe most cars do.
But it probably doesn't have these kinds of coatings on it.
 

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The Polestar 2 is evidently coming with electrochromic "smart" glass in its panoramic roof, which can be dimmed to translucent or even opaque; this type of glass is used in the new Boeing Dreamliners for their passenger seats, where you push one of several buttons to have the window go from completely transparent to completely opaque. All automakers should be using electrochromic glass in roof glass.
Wish they would do that with the Mach-e. Well, maybe. Everything comes at a cost, so I guess it would depend on how much extra $$$ it would add to the price tag. I have my limits. ;)
 

buzznwood

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Wish they would do that with the Mach-e. Well, maybe. Everything comes at a cost, so I guess it would depend on how much extra $$$ it would add to the price tag. I have my limits. ;)
This is a problem that BEV have is that the costs of the batteries means the entry price really goes up and once you start hitting the 60k range there is a level of tech and creature comforts and material quality that people expect for the price point.

For the polestar as it will be similar to a mid size volvo so already quite a good base. For the cost of a well spec'd mach-e the cabin of a fiesta vignale better not be a higher quality place to sit.
 

cometguy

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The Polestar 2 will be priced pretty close to the Mach-E (base price $45k USD for lowest "trim" level; $60k-$65k for upper trim). So cost isn't a reason for not having electrochromic glass in the roof; it could be optional, at any rate (an option that would be a "must" for me).
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