Responding to a video depicting noise produced by the Tesla Model S Plaid’s air conditioning system, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that “new HVAC firmware” is “coming soon that will make [the A/C] quieter.”
The video came in response to a post from Tesla Raj, sharing footage from OCDetailing’s recent first drive video on the Model S Plaid.
In the caption, Tesla Raj points out that, once the door is closed to the Model S Plaid, the sound from outside the car completely disappears, and is instead replaced by the sound of the interior’s powerful air conditioning unit.
New HVAC firmware coming soon that will make it quieter
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 16, 2021
Tesla’s 2021 Model S will also include Active Noise Cancellation, supported in front driver and passenger seats, but the feature has not been activated yet.
Active noise cancellation. Likely not yet enabled, but it apparently uses microphones in the seats, next to the headrests.
ANC uses the 22 speakers to cancel out repetitive incoming sounds. Having microphones next to your ears enables it to have an accurate sample to cancel out. pic.twitter.com/Rnb7GtbwpB
— Jason Hess 🇺🇦 (@Jason_Hess_) June 11, 2021
Last year, Tesla added a heat pump to the Model 3 and Model Y, and each of its cars released since has also featured the helpful air conditioning part. The Tesla Director who brought the heat pump feature to the table has since departed from the company.
Tesla has also shared that it wants to use radar to detect when children are left in hot cars, as it pointed out last year in a request with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
