Let's Tell Nissan How To Fix Climate Control

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aqn said:
planet4ever said:
  1. [...]
  2. Clicking AUTO off will cause all buttons to behave independently in a true manual mode, [...]
I'm of the KISS school: I'd rather not have the "AUTO" button altogether. The only "auto" thing will be temperature control, which will only vary the fan speed to attempt to achieve the target temperature. It should not change air intake (fresh versus re-circ), or turn the A/C or the heater on or off.
It's evident that the heater/AC arrangement was the super duper cheapest available ... like the paint thickness ... like the ultra chintzy carpet (tantamount to mear padding) ... like the low amperage traction charger ... it's the very very least Nissan could get away with, sadly. Nissan cut corners so that it'd be as affordable as possible. By purchasing these first gen EV's, Nissan is afforded the ability to recoup some of their R and D costs, so that hopefully, rev 2 will be better.
 
aqn said:
planet4ever said:
  1. [...]
  2. The most serious omission in the current system is the lack of any heater on/off button.
Agreed! I would add a heater on/off switch, and maybe a reminder/suggestion to turn the heater on, in case the user forgets or does not realize that cranking the temperature setting all the way up won't turn on the heater!
I was looking at the heater wiring schematic in the service manual this weekend, thinking that I surely I could ad a 12V switch in the system somewhere to turn the heater off myself. Sadly, although there seems to be both 12V and high V inputs to the heater, I don't yet see how to do it...
 
If it is cold out and I have the temp set high why Nissan do you illuminate the A/C light? Why not have two lights so we know what system is actually using power? And we could turn off the item we do not want running.

For instance I may have the temp set at 74 on a cool morning and press AUTO. But I don't need heat. I just want outside air to come in until the day warms the car and the cooling is needed. :|

I think an AUTO COOL and separate AUTO HEAT buttons would be better. Push both if you want both as I assume the car could figure out what system to run or stay off.
 
I want a button that I can push when I get out to tell the car to keep the climate control on. If it shuts off when it is getting low on power needed to get home, that would be a nice feature.

Additionally, can someone explain why the fan does not blow harder when the interior is cold? It should take a few seconds for the heater to have warm air and it should blow hard to get the temp in the interior up to the target. When I get out of the car, use the carwings thing to turn on the climate control, then get back in, the fan will be blowing hard and the interior temperature will be above the target. When I turn on the car the fan slows down. This makes no sense. The fan speed should be proportional to how far the interior temp is from the target temp regardless of whether the car is on or just the climate control is on.

What is going on?
 
johntaves said:
It should take a few seconds for the heater to have warm air and it should blow hard to get the temp in the interior up to the target.
I agree, in an ideal system it "should" take only a few seconds, but the LEAF doesn't have an ideal system. The electricity has to heat the coil, then the coil has to heat the coolant (water+antifreeze) and only then can the coolant start heating the air in the heater core. You see, Nissan gave the LEAF a traditional auto heater, but just used an electric coil to replace the non-existent engine.

Ray
 
EricBayArea said:
Personally, I'd like a software update that adds a temperature setting lower than 60 that says "Low" which disables the heater. I think that'll solve a lot of issues and can be done NOW.

Please, Nissan?

+1. I think this is the simpliest idea.
A software update that when you set the temperature lower than 16c/60f degrees to a position called "Off" (I prefer this rather than "Low" as it suggests the heater stills runs). When in the Temperature "Off" setting the heater would just not switch on with the fans or modes. A/C already has a button to stop it if needed. Also this way, there is no changes to the console/facade and should be backward compatible.

I would also suggest an extra mode that just pointed at the windscreen instead of windscreen and feet. I understand pressing the windscreen button does this but it also switches on the fans and A/C. I would just like it so fresh air came in and went to the windscreen without cooling down my feet.

Finally, when controlling fan speed you should be able to go lower than 1bar and effectively stop the fans.
Thanks
 
Using defrost shouldn't lock in the use of outside air only. You should be able to use defrost and recirc. Especially when it's very cold outside.
 
EVDrive said:
When I have the climate control on and I shut it off, it takes me from recirculated air to outside air automatically.
Don't choose outide air, let me keep the air recirculating. This bugs me daily. .


I agree entirely with this suggestion. I much rather want to use recirculating air for windshield defogging rather than be forced to use outside air. I realize that big brother Nissan decided that using outside air is the most efficient way to defog the windshield, but I have driven many other cars using recirculating air and it works just fine.
 
smkettner said:
If it is cold out and I have the temp set high why Nissan do you illuminate the A/C light? Why not have two lights so we know what system is actually using power? And we could turn off the item we do not want running.

For instance I may have the temp set at 74 on a cool morning and press AUTO. But I don't need heat. I just want outside air to come in until the day warms the car and the cooling is needed. :|

I think an AUTO COOL and separate AUTO HEAT buttons would be better. Push both if you want both as I assume the car could figure out what system to run or stay off.

The thermostat for my home heat pump (Air conditioning + Heat + axillary resistant heat) has system modes of:

HEAT
OFF
COOL
AUTO

To add to that there is a set temp for HEAT and a set temp for COOL and it has a touchscreen interface.

If I know it will be warm later in the day putting the system in COOL keeps the heat from coming on when I don't want it. If I know it'll be cold later in the night putting the system in HEAT keeps the AC from coming on when I don't want it.

Now my car system doesn't need 7 days a week, 4 times a day presets (WAKE, LEAVE, RETURN, SLEEP) but adding a set temp for each mode and/or the ability to lock out a mode would be a simple change no matter how it's done.

The reality is the vast majority of the time I drive my car I don't need to vary the temp settings. I just want climate control to come on the minimal amount needed to keep it reasonably comfortable. Give me system mode lockouts and I'll disable heat in the summer and disable cooling in the winter. Give me two set points (temp for heat and temp for cool) and I won't even have to think about it.

Let the touchscreen be where you go in and set the initial temps and the dash or steering wheel buttons can increment temp up/down for the currently active mode or if none is active for the mode last used.
 
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