Quick and Dirty Rear Window Shelf Temperature Measurement

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K8QM

K8QM

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A friend had his thrmocouple temperature probe at work today so we did a couple of quick tests with the Clarity sitting facing away from the sun with no shade.

Temps aren't exact but should be within a couple of percent worst case.

Ambient 88 F
Drivers Seat with probe out of direct sunlight 125 F
Rear window shelf with probe in direct sunlight 178 F

So you really don't want to put anything back there except maybe a tray of cookies to be baked.

geo
 
I put heat/IR reflecting ceramic film on all windows, including the windshield and it makes a significant difference on the heat gain. About $175 to move up to the premium film and add the windshield, but well worth it to me.
Our Claritys have so much windshield and rear window glass that it’s like a greenhouse solar collector on wheels.
 
KentuckyKen said:
I put heat/IR reflecting ceramic film on all windows, including the windshield and it makes a significant difference on the heat gain. About $175 to move up to the premium film and add the windshield, but well worth it to me.
Our Claritys have so much windshield and rear window glass that it’s like a greenhouse solar collector on wheels.
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Was that price including installation? We're in NC, not too sure about tinting restrictions by DMV, but my wife came home today complaining about the heat in the car, after being parked in the sun for a while. I wouldn't want to darken the windshield too much, but interested in having it done also, mainly to reduce heat.
 
You have to check your state laws. I was allowed to put 70% VLT on my windshield which was the most transparent film my local shop had. I’m not experiencing any problems with it at night. Just make sure it’s the ceramic heat/IR reflecting film.
My local shop charged me $100 extra to do the windshield at the time I had all the other windows done. They had the Clarity window dimensions in their software and it cut them perfectly.
I think moving up to the ceramic for all the other windows was about $75 or $100 more than the regular film.
 
In Texas:
Tint darkness for sedans:
  • Windshield: 25% VLT tint is allowed above the manufacturer's AS-1 line or top 5 inches, with less than 25% reflection.
  • Front Side windows: Must allow more than 25% of light in.
  • Back Side windows: Any darkness can be used.
  • Rear Window: Any darkness can be used with side outside mirrors, 25% VLT without.
However, my dealer was not cool about tinting the rear window because of rear defroster?
 
I used the shop my dealer used and they tinted the rear window with no problem. It does make a minor distortion over the raised defroster elements but nothing that impairs the view. I was allowed to tint the entire front windshield not just a top band.
We have to be no less than 30% VLT on the front side windows and darker is allowed in the rear so I did 30% VLT on everything but the windshield to make it match and look better.
 
I found the North Carolina DMV specs for sedans that I believe is current:

Tint darkness for sedans:
  • Windshield: Non-reflective tint is allowed above the manufacturer's AS-1 line or top 5 inches. (Note that another PDF doc from DMV adds: "whichever is longer", to that size.)
  • Front Side windows: Must allow more than 35% of light in.
  • Back Side windows: Must allow more than 35% of light in.
  • Rear Window: Must allow more than 35% of light in.
Tint reflection for sedans:
  • Front Side windows: Must not be more than 20% reflective.
  • Back Side windows: Must not be more than 20% reflective.
There is more to the restrictions than I have copy/pasted here, so if anyone else in NC is thinking about this, please check the source.

I have to think about that AS-1 line thing, and study that further, but I was surprised that the line on the Clarity is about 13" below the top of the windshield. It looks to me that it would be a distraction having that edge so close to my line-of-sight vertically.

KentuckyKen said:
.... My local shop charged me $100 extra to do the windshield at the time I had all the other windows done. They had the Clarity window dimensions in their software and it cut them perfectly.
I think moving up to the ceramic for all the other windows was about $75 or $100 more than the regular film.
Click to expand...

I guess this will probably cost me more than I thought, at first. Sounds like the $175 cost was just the premium for the ceramic film upgrade & the windshield. There are apparently several tinting shops in town, so I guess I will have to chat with them to see what the total damages would be, and what my options are.
 
My tint is holding up fine on the rear window after 3 months. Although the shop that did it said the next Clarity rear window they do may cost a little more since they said it was a real pain to do in the limited space with it not being a hatchback.
 
KentuckyKen said:
My tint is holding up fine on the rear window after 3 months. Although the shop that did it said the next Clarity rear window they do may cost a little more since they said it was a real pain to do in the limited space with it not being a hatchback.
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Yes, I've been looking at that closely, and there's no way I would try to do that one myself. There's hardly enough space to slip my hand all the way in to the opening. It would be a good place for frozen pizza, though, and maybe enough heat to cook one.

I'll be looking for a different installer, with the hope they won't notice the difficulty until it's too late to raise their price. I foolishly searched for the defroster, until it finally dawned on my that the element is built in to the glass, which may cause some issues to the tinting material over time, and was probably why the installer wasn't too keen on doing it.
 
Yes, I was concerned as well. I’m glad mine came with a lifetime warranty good at any shop licensed to install my brand of tint. Hope I never have to use it though.
Between the heat reflecting all over tint and the way our electric scroll compressor a/c gives cold air so quickly, this is the fastest cool down of any car I’ve owned. I think it will make ice cubes on high. And it only seems to be reducing my EV range by about 4 miles per full charge (55-60 miles).
Couldn’t be happier or cooler.
 
Good point about the lifetime warranty. I'll try to get that same thing. The quick performing Heating and Cooling on the Clarity has been a very happy surprise to me. I was concerned that being a Hybrid, the system would be anemic, and barely adequate, but it's amazing fast and effective. My wife especially appreciates the quick heat up in colder weather - and even better when I enable Climate Control prior to driving.

She complained about almost every car we have owned not heating up fast enough, not accepting that the engine had to heat up the water before any real heat became available to the cabin. The only other car that heated up as fast as the Clarity does was our 1960 Corvair, which used a gas burner.
 
In stark contrast with my 1-liter Insight, which has a tough time getting out of its own way when the A/C is running, I was delighted to find the Clarity's electric A/C doesn't affect the car's performance at all. Instead of dragging down the engine, the Clarity's A/C shares the teat of the HV battery with the traction motor--and there's plenty of juice to go around.
 
insightman said:
In stark contrast with my 1-liter Insight, which has a tough time getting out of its own way when the A/C is running, I was delighted to find the Clarity's electric A/C doesn't affect the car's performance at all. Instead of dragging down the engine, the Clarity's A/C shares the teat of the HV battery with the traction motor--and there's plenty of juice to go around.
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and I agree the cooling occurs really fast!
 
vicw said:
Did your dealer explain his concern about the rear defroster, and did he install the tinting on that window anyway?
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After a little "prodding" he has finally installed on rear window - I think it is not so much the rear defroster as it is a dog of a job to install for some reason.
 
dstrauss said:
After a little "prodding" he has finally installed on rear window - I think it is not so much the rear defroster as it is a dog of a job to install for some reason.
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I’ll bet it’s the hard to reach aspect of the install. At least that’s what my shop said. Heaven help us all is we get some small object wedged back in the vee between the glass and shelf.
 
I just visited a local installer this afternoon. He gave me a price, but didn't really look directly at the rear window arrangement. If I use him, and he objects to the rear window, I'll try to appeal to his pride in his professional abilities. We shall see.
 
So, to tag onto this thread, Inside EVs has a post about the speed with which the Tesla 3 will bring down the cabin temp using the remote climate command. Has anyone done a test with our car? Would be helpful to the community to know how far in advance we should initiate the remote climate system based on given outside conditions.
 
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