When industry veteran Sandy Munro performed his teardown of the Model Y, one of his observations was around the new heat pump in the electric SUV.
Early owners of the Model Y complained about excessive noise from the heat pump when the air conditioning was running. What Munro suggested as an easy fix was installing an insulating cover that would reduce noise and vibrations.
Tesla took the advice to heart, and soon after begin installing an “AC Compressor Acoustic Cover” around the heat pump of the Model Y.
These covers can now be installed by Mobile Service rangers in the driveway of your home at no charge.
Drive Tesla has been able to personally inspect several Model Y’s that have been delivered in Canada, and all of them have had the new insulation around the heat pump.
So we decided to see just how loud the heat pump is now with this small but potentially significant change.
Here is what the heat pump looks like in early builds of the Model Y on the left, and here’s what the heat pump looks like in a Canadian Model Y with the acoustic cover already installed.
For the tests, the outside temperature was 22°C (72°F). The A/C was turned on to the maximum level of 10 inside the vehicle to see how loud it was at the highest speed, and also at level 4, to see how noisy it was at a typical A/C setting.
We ran several tests with the frunk closed, open, and with the frunk open and partially taken apart.
When the frunk was closed and the A/C set to 10, you could tell the heat pump was on, but the sound was not very noticeable. It is also a “softer” sound compared to when the A/C is set to 10 on a Model 3 (also included in the video below).
At the same setting, but with the frunk open it was considerably louder, even more so when the frunk was partially removed. Obviously you’re not likely to run your A/C when the frunk like this open and exposed, but it is good to see having the frunk closed reduces the noise further.
When the A/C was set to 4, you could barely tell the heat pump was running.
While we have yet to personally hear a Model Y heat pump without the acoustic cover, the sound coming from it with it installed is nothing that should cause a potential owner concern. It appears Tesla listened to the advice of Munro and have created an effective solution to the problems early owners were reporting.
Check out the full video below, and let us know if you think the heat pump is as loud as you were expecting it to be.
