AC automatically turning on (and Heat) when I start the car

[tntschiff]

I'm of the opinion as a customer and as a programmer with 40+ years of experience, that unless there is some kind of condition that poses a "risk" to the car, then the controls should do what the driver wants. And I find it very hard to believe there is anything in cabin of the car that has to be turned on to protect the car. If there is, then that sounds like poorly designed car.

And frankly, trying to justify it with statements like "well what's harm?" or "that is just the way it is." Are meaningless. Clearly it does bother some people, and that is all that is needed to justify it allow it. It is their car, not yours of even Ford's.

Now saying that I have certainly had software that was designed in a way that didn't line up with what the customer wanted, and it didn't get changed for various reasons, one being that the developers didn't have the time to work on it because their time was used for something that was considered more important.

But the very fact that some cars are doing one thing and others are doing another thing, sounds like a bug to me. I might also add when you have settings in the remote start that say to go back to the last setting and it then goes into "automatic" when the last setting isn't automatic, then someone should either fix the description or the functionality.

I have 38 years as an electrical engineer and completely agree with you! It is a design oversight for whatever reason, be it they were busy with other priorities or plain messed up the code (which is what a SW Bug is).

Sponsored

 

[jav_eee]

For me I don't like air blowing on me, not to mention I might have the windows open instead

wait but air still blows on you with the window down only much more forcefully.

If I open the windows on the Mach-E I might have to adjust settings just to prevent it from doing the same

a tale as old as time. how did we manage to do these things before vehicles went to "everythings computer"

 

[jav_eee]

It starts blowing cold air on my feet which is annoying and range is impacted. Why do people keep justifying this behavior as "just deal with it"???

hoe much range could you possibly be losing

 

[tntschiff]

hoe much range could you possibly be losing

About 3% which some might say is fine or in the noise or "you can't tell that little". However, as I stated before, all cars I have owned INCLUDING the 2021 Mach-e allowed me to do what us old school people would call Vent Mode. And I have been doing PC designs since 2000 so am not against computer controlled systems. But sometimes mistakes are made.

BTW, I bought a Wiring Diagram for the MME and it is incredibly complicated with temp/humidity sensors all over the place. Electrically the design looks complicated so the SW control must be complicated so issues like this crop up.

And if the way the MME behaves suits you fine, great. But there is a small group of people that find it annoying (it's not like just one of us is complaining, there are plenty of posts online about this).

 

[ChrisO]

wait but air still blows on you with the window down only much more forcefully.



a tale as old as time. how did we manage to do these things before vehicles went to "everythings computer"

You might think this is strange, but it isn't the same. I roll down the window a little bit and it flows at head level. The fans blow into my arms. What's more sometimes I roll down other windows, not mine. It all depends on the climate and how I'm feeling at that moment.

The whole point is that the passengers should be able to decide.

And you answered the second question whether you realize it or not.

In a car before "everything is a computer" if you turned off the AC it didn't turn back on when you started the car! And my comment about the house and the fact that if I open the windows the AC/heat goes off is a comment about "How to be intelligent about it". I personally don't consider it intelligent to override what the customer has set, unless there is an option to do that or not. And even with the idea that maybe a good feature would be to turn off the AC/Heat when I open the windows, I would certainly want it to be an option. Because I certainly can see situations where it could go either way.

The goal of such a design should be to carry out what is the users desire up to the ability of the current technology. When all you have is manual controls, then you design around that. When you have automatic controls, you design for them. But the overall goal hasn't changed, you are trying to make the customer experience the best you can given the current limitations.

BTW if you want to see a "smart car design" Xiaomi is the place to look. You can setup doing almost everything from a given event.

 

[E90alex]

I’m not sure some of you realize or understand, but the HVAC is not only there for your cabin comfort in a modern day EV. It’s not the same as your car from “back in the day” so you can’t expect it to work exactly how it did “back in the day”.

In many cases the car will be already utilizing the AC compressor and/or PTC heater (or heat pump for 2025) to manage the temperature of various vehicle components including the drive motors and batteries. The AC and heat button on the screen may stop the cabin air from being conditioned, but it doesn’t prevent the usage of those components. All air coming through the blower motor passes through the AC evaporator core so there’s really no such thing as purely fresh outside air only.

So since the car is already utilizing those components to manage temperature of other parts of the car, regulating cabin temp as well will be of little to no efficiency impact.

If you could heat or cool your house for “free” as a byproduct of doing something else you already have to do, wouldn’t you?

As for not liking cold air blowing on you, just turn up the temperature? Or move/close the vents?

 

[jav_eee]

You might think this is strange, but it isn't the same. I roll down the window a little bit and it flows at head level. The fans blow into my arms. What's more sometimes I roll down other windows, not mine. It all depends on the climate and how I'm feeling at that moment.

The whole point is that the passengers should be able to decide.

And you answered the second question whether you realize it or not.

In a car before "everything is a computer" if you turned off the AC it didn't turn back on when you started the car! And my comment about the house and the fact that if I open the windows the AC/heat goes off is a comment about "How to be intelligent about it". I personally don't consider it intelligent to override what the customer has set, unless there is an option to do that or not. And even with the idea that maybe a good feature would be to turn off the AC/Heat when I open the windows, I would certainly want it to be an option. Because I certainly can see situations where it could go either way.

The goal of such a design should be to carry out what is the users desire up to the ability of the current technology. When all you have is manual controls, then you design around that. When you have automatic controls, you design for them. But the overall goal hasn't changed, you are trying to make the customer experience the best you can given the current limitations.

BTW if you want to see a "smart car design" Xiaomi is the place to look. You can setup doing almost everything from a given event.

oh i completely agree with personal customization. One of my gripes is the 30 minute limit on pre-cooling the vehicle. Why can’t I run it for however long I want?

Some of the reasons people are giving for wanting the AC off immediately upon starting the vehicle are…… unique.

 

[ChrisO]

I’m not sure some of you realize or understand, but the HVAC is not only there for your cabin comfort in a modern day EV. It’s not the same as your car from “back in the day” so you can’t expect it to work exactly how it did “back in the day”.

In many cases the car will be already utilizing the AC compressor and/or PTC heater (or heat pump for 2025) to manage the temperature of various vehicle components including the drive motors and batteries. The AC and heat button on the screen may stop the cabin air from being conditioned, but it doesn’t prevent the usage of those components. All air coming through the blower motor passes through the AC evaporator core so there’s really no such thing as purely fresh outside air only.

So since the car is already utilizing those components to manage temperature of other parts of the car, regulating cabin temp as well will be of little to no efficiency impact.

If you could heat or cool your house for “free” as a byproduct of doing something else you already have to do, wouldn’t you?

As for not liking cold air blowing on you, just turn up the temperature? Or move/close the vents?

I think you missed the whole point. If an ice car was dependent on keeping the cabin at freezing so that it could run properly no one would doubt that that is a stupid design.

The fact that the cabin temperature uses the same air conditioning system is irrelevant. This is why you have valves and other mechanisms for routing the cooling to where it needs to be.

And I don’t care whether I can get free cooling when I don’t want it.

And you keep bringing up things like efficiency that it’s OK for the air conditioning run because of the electricity will not be consumed. Guess what I don’t care about that efficiency, but can you show me how it is more efficient for it to make the cabin uncomfortable to keep the battery at the right temperature?

I don’t see any way that could possibly be true. Physics says that heating more area takes more energy. And to cool an area that the user doesn’t want cooled is just plain wrong.

 

[areacode413]

I'm of the opinion as a customer and as a programmer with 40+ years of experience, that unless there is some kind of condition that poses a "risk" to the car, then the controls should do what the driver wants. And I find it very hard to believe there is anything in cabin of the car that has to be turned on to protect the car. If there is, then that sounds like poorly designed car.

And frankly, trying to justify it with statements like "well what's harm?" or "that is just the way it is." Are meaningless. Clearly it does bother some people, and that is all that is needed to justify it allow it. It is their car, not yours of even Ford's.

Now saying that I have certainly had software that was designed in a way that didn't line up with what the customer wanted, and it didn't get changed for various reasons, one being that the developers didn't have the time to work on it because their time was used for something that was considered more important.

But the very fact that some cars are doing one thing and others are doing another thing, sounds like a bug to me. I might also add when you have settings in the remote start that say to go back to the last setting and it then goes into "automatic" when the last setting isn't automatic, then someone should either fix the description or the functionality.

Last setting? Reminds me of a Mac or PC that will automatically manage my printers when I just want to see a default.

Sponsored