In case your Tesla begins to stink like outdated sweat socks, you possibly can repair that downside your self, however it’s a bit little bit of a frightening course of.
My Tesla Mannequin 3 ponged of what I’d describe as a combo of toes and smelly cheese for a number of months. I procrastinated coping with it, however when it grew to become insufferable, I finally discovered, after speaking to my colleague Jameson Dow, that it’s due to an notorious, ongoing air filter downside in Teslas. (I’ve by no means had this putrid air filter expertise in every other automobile, EV or in any other case, that I’ve owned.)
Tesla’s air filters are chargeable for purifying the air contained in the automobile’s cabin. Over time, the filters get clogged with mud, particles, and pollution, and that results in much less efficient air purification and, you guessed it, dangerous smells. It all the time acquired worse when it rained. And whereas Tesla recommends that air filters be modified each two years, the stink really arrived months earlier than the two-year mark.
Tesla’s resolution to place the onus of changing the air filters on homeowners units it aside from different automakers. This DIY method might be daunting for some homeowners preferring a extra hands-off relationship with their EVs or lack the technical know-how to hold out the duty themselves.
My husband and I watched a few YouTube movies about altering Tesla air filters. Tesla gives written directions and a video on its Do It Your self pages for all 4 fashions, however we discovered the YouTube movies to be extra useful.
It’s important to lie in a clumsy place on the passenger seat ground to get the job executed, and one individual has to carry the flashlight. It’s not straightforward to get gentle beneath the sprint.
Regardless of not being snug in any respect with dismantling the inside of our automobile, we efficiently accomplished the job. Right here’s how the air-filter change course of is meant to work (and by the way in which, we didn’t have these instruments proven beneath, aside from our personal screwdriver):
You additionally must order and pay for the air filters. Whereas they aren’t costly at $17 a pop, Tesla actually must make them complimentary as a superb customer support gesture to its clients.
You possibly can take your automobile to a Tesla Service Heart or name Tesla Cellular Service to keep away from trying to alter the air filter your self, however you’ll must pay for that.
Within the meantime, altering our air filters lastly eradicated the funky stink.
And maybe, within the close to future, Tesla may give you a extra everlasting answer to this DIY air filter change requirement, as a result of it’s not so simple as the automaker makes it out to be.
Learn extra: Right here’s why I want Amtrak over my Tesla Mannequin 3 within the US Northeast
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