Is your A/C hella loud?

[Kachook]

Okay, so I cannot appreciate how quiet this car is because the A/C seems to be so loud. Today, I had it parked outside in the Houston head and remotely started the car. When I got outside, it was uber-loud. We have had multiple cars before and it sounded louder than our ICE vehicles with the A/C on. I do not think it is only in my head. Thoughts?

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[Kamuelaflyer]

Consider whether the car sounds loud because there’s no internal combustion engine masking the a/c sound. Another consideration may be how hot it was. You might be hearing the a/c and battery cooling happening along with no mouse from sn engine to mask it.

 

[Kachook]

Sounds plausible but I’m wondering who else has experienced this or is this an issue specific to my vehicle. I thought one of the perks of an EV was that it is quieter than an ICE vehicle. At least in the six weeks I’ve had it, that doesn’t seem to be the case. It’s not enough for me not to enjoy the car. But, inquiring minds want to know.

 

[TRP]

I'm in East TN so it's not as hot as Houston but my AC does not seem to be loud. I hear it, but I also hear other cars on the road too that I couldn't hear before.

 

[Scarpia]

Mine is neither hella loud nor uber-loud. (I don't think I've ever had the fan higher than 3, though.)

 

[Deleted member 3663]

I live in Dallas/Fort Worth area, and yeah, when it's hot like it has been, the a/c is very loud for the first few minutes, but then calms down. Back in spring and into early summer, it wasn't like this, but the past few weeks, starting it when very hot outside... it is loud. But it only last a few minutes. One thing I will say for the positive, it is an unbelievably great a/c... I mean it is blowing out super cold air when it takes my other cars much longer to get that nice feeling cool air.

 

[breeves002]

When its going hard it is loud. Unfortunately just how it is. I am just thankful how great this AC is. If you turn the fan limit down to 2 it kicks down pretty fast.

 

[Kachook]

When its going hard it is loud. Unfortunately just how it is. I am just thankful how great this AC is. If you turn the fan limit down to 2 it kicks down pretty fast.

Got it. So, it’s the auto setting.

 

[breeves002]

Got it. So, it’s the auto setting.

It isn't, but when you turn the fan limit down it turns down the fan which in turn requires less cooling effort so the compressor turns down.

The compressor is variable so it can ramp up and down as needed. Battery cooling can cause it to ramp up higher too, although in my experience it seems to not need a whole lot to cool the battery, but the cabin requires a lot when it is really hot and you're trying to cool the car down.

Once the car is cool, or if you turn the fan down (yourself or with auto fan limit) it quiets some as it requires less output for the same air temp.

 

[Chudsaviet]

Yes, it is very loud outside on a hot day when its running at 100% power. It just have to push lots of air through a radiator smaller than in ICE car. Sorry Texans
Yes, it is a disadvantage of EVs. It happens even on my 2014 Leaf.
On the other side, you can run A/C as much as you wish without polluting air, even in an enclosed space.

 

[AZBill]

It is not the AC that is loud, it is the radiator cooling fan. It is also very loud when charging the car in the heat. I live in AZ, hotter than Texas.

 

[ShadowCVL]

Likely what you are hearing is turbulence of the fan, when its HOT it has to run at full speed to cool the battery and pull air across the condenser. The reason its louder than an ICE is because its an electric fan and not belt driven by the idler of an ICE. Think about it like this, is a box fan louder than a ceiling fan? The ceiling fan puts a lot less energy in and gets more work due to larger blades, where a box fan has to put more energy in to do the same amount of work.

It also doesnt help too much that the louvers on the front are kinda small, put your hand in front of them and you can really feel the air moving. The more constricted opening also creates more turbulence and thus more noise.

But short answer, yeah its loud as hell when its hot out. Its 93 and humid as hell where I am and yeah...

 

[JimmyMachE]

Fords seem to have louder radiator cooling fans when compared to other cars...

 

[Kachook]

Thank you all for your responses. I just wanted to be sure there was not anything wrong with my MME.

 

[v8318cid]

Ha...I wish it was the fan on mine. The fan is relatively quiet compared to the compressor when it is set on high and for the first few minutes (while it stabilizes) on any auto mode (1-3). I removed the frunk so I could get a closer look at the compressor mount points and I swear that either the compressor has no mounts, or they are made of some extremely pliable rubber... By the by, ever see the "spaghetti" that is the plumbing for the cooling/coolant system on this thing? It's impressive to say the least... Makes Nissan's Leaf heat pump system seem simplistic by comparison.

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