Tesla is following in the footsteps of Hyundai and Kia. It introduces driver-only air conditioning.

In the latest firmware 2020.28.5, Tesla introduced a new feature in the Tesla Model Y: ventilation for the passenger's face. Thanks to it, in the car, you can turn off the windows for the passenger if only the driver is found in the cabin. This option is not yet available for other models.

Driver only air conditioning in the fight to improve energy efficiency

Hyundai-Kia electric vehicles have a unique feature that reduces energy consumption. This is the “Driver only” mode, in which the car only cares about the driver's comfort. The rest of the passenger compartment is neither cooled nor heated, which reduces the overall energy consumption of the air conditioning system.

Lower energy consumption means better energy efficiency while driving, resulting in a longer range. The differences may be small, but if we can achieve savings of 1-2 percent in several places, it may turn out that our range will increase by several tens of kilometers.

Tesla introduces a similar feature in firmware 2020.28.5, but so far only in Model Y... The Passenger Face Vent option automatically turns off the air vents in the passenger seat when it detects that only one seat is occupied in the vehicle. Airflow can be restored by adjusting the airflow on the other side.

Tesla 2020.28.5 firmware and a new option on Model Y, Passenger Face Vent (c) Teslarati

The 2020.28.5 software is also available in other Tesla, also in Poland. Some of our readers only get the Polish translation of the interface with it, because the distribution of the earlier versions 2020.28.1 and 2020.28.2 has been suspended. anyway enabling the polish interface may disable voice commandswhich work fine with English subtitles (source).

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