Tesla continues innovation with new refrigerant-based seats

Tesla continues rapid innovation with new seat patent

In February of 2019, Tesla filed a patent for a “Vehicle seat with an integrated temperature-control system,” and now it seems the company has just updated the patent.

The new system will heat or cool the seats as needed with the use of coolant, which will ultimately lead to increased comfort and reduced power usage.

The new system will be much more efficient and comfortable than current heated seat technology. Traditionally, car seats get heated by an electric current that flows through resistors and get cooled by a fan under the seat.

The difference between electric resistor-based seat heaters and these new refrigerant-based seats could be compared to Tesla vehicles with electric heaters and those with a heat pump.

A model with a heat pump extracts heat from a refrigerant that is run through the system instead of generating heat using electricity directly. Heat pumps are much more efficient at generating heat when compared to electric heaters. We’d expect a similar efficiency gain from Tesla switching to these new temperature controlled seat heaters.

Most seat heating and cooling systems have 3 heat/cool settings that must be manually adjusted. These types of seat heaters are basically on/off switches and can not control the temperature of the seat well.

Tesla recently added automatic seat heater functionality to Teslas to help address this issue. The new auto setting will automatically turn on seat heaters then gradually lower their temperature as the cabin warms. However, it appears that Tesla is aiming to provide an even better solution with this patent.

Precise Temperature Control

These new seats would be able to precisely control their temperature so that you can set an exact temperature for your seat just like you do for the cabin temperature.

The new seats would be much more efficient than using electric seat heaters and would provide better cooling than running cold air through vented seats.

Better Cooled Seats

Ventilating air through the seat is rarely enough to remove excess heat for the comfort of the passenger.

Instead of blowing cold air into the seat, these new seats would work like an air conditioning system, by removing heat from the seat. This would be much more effective at cooling down the passenger.

Additionally, traditional seat heating systems take up a lot of space and are ineffective because heat typically has to travel through multiple layers of fabric and other materials.

The same way fluid is used to heat/cool batteries, the new system will more effectively transfer heat with the circulation of fluid in between layers of the seats.

The new patent includes multiple layers inside the seat. Under the outermost layer of the seat, there will be a layer of heating/cooling fluid. The fluid will circulate under this layer through the entire seat to ensure that all parts are evenly heated/cooled.

This invention shows how Tesla is innovating and paying great attention to detail in every possible way to make their vehicles more efficient, comfortable and enjoyable for the user.

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Tesla Cuts Newly Formed Content and Ads Team, Musk says Ads Were “Too Generic”

Tesla eliminated a newly formed marketing team of about 40 employees as part of its global layoffs, Bloomberg reported on Monday morning. On X, Elon Musk said the ads created by the team were “far too generic” adding that they would apply to “any car”.

Exactly. The ads were far too generic – could’ve been any car.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 22, 2024

The team was led by Alexander Ingram who joined Tesla in August 2019 as Communication lead for Automotive. After a few different roles connected with content and social media, Ingram was promoted last December to Senior Manager of Global Growth Content. In the new role, he was leading a global team of creatives focused on Tesla's first ads, as well as social media.

Ingram put out some excellent behind-the-scenes videos on Tesla’s technological advancements such as the one below explaining Tesla’s single casting.

Tesla’s Advertisement Strategy

At Tesla’s 2023 annual meeting of shareholders, Elon Musk said that the company would “try a little advertising and see how it goes”. Since then, Tesla ads have been seen in Google search results and on YouTube.

In Tesla’s proxy statement filed last week, it is seen that the automaker has spent around $200,000 on X-advertising through February 2024.

“As part of a multi-platform advertising campaign, Tesla also directly or indirectly purchased advertising on X, which totaled approximately $0.2 million through February 2024”

Bloomberg’s source added that Tesla still has a smaller marketing team in Europe.

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Tesla Is Ending Its Current Referral Program; New Version Will Arrive in “A Few Months”

Tesla's Referral Program

Not a Tesla App

Tesla shared on X that it’s ending its current referral program globally by the end of April. It’ll be replaced by a new one, but that is still “a few months away”, according to CEO Elon Musk.

When Musk was asked if the current credits would be lost, Musk responded by saying “No, just that new credits would not be earned until we launch a future referral program.” That means there’ll be a gap of a couple of months when owners will not be able to earn referral credits.

Tesla was always famous for relying on its community to promote its vehicles rather than spending millions (or even billions) in ad campaigns.

Through Tesla’s referral program — which started back in 2015— customers have been earning referral credits by having friends use their referral link when ordering a Tesla product or taking their first demo drive. At the time, it started with a direct $1,000 prize for the referrer but later evolved to a more complex system with different tiers and points.

Prizes have changed a lot over the years

In its latest version, scheduled to end by the end of the month, Tesla models (S, X, and Y), along with Powerwall, solar panels, and solar roofs, are available for purchase using a referral link. In this version, owners can redeem credits from merchandise to software upgrades for their vehicles. They can even redeem credits for several months free of Premium Connectivity or FSD.

Our current referral program benefits will end after April 30 in all markets

— Tesla North America (@tesla_na) April 20, 2024

The Evolution of the Referral Program

Tesla’s first referral program was released in July 2015 where customers who referred new buyers would receive $1,000 for every new Tesla Model S delivered. For those who were able to accrue 5 or 10 referrals for the US automaker, Tesla raised the bar and offered invitations to the opening of its Giga Factories or even a fully loaded Model X.

Over the first 2 years, Tesla significantly increased the value of the prizes and even offered free or discounted Roadsters with enough referrals. However, in 2019, Elon Musk decided to stop amid cost concerns.

The referral program was re-launched in late 2019 offering new buyers free supercharging for a period of time, FSD access, premium connectivity, or $500 off a new vehicle.

What’s Next

Given the considerable gap of “a few months” between the current program and the next one, it is expected that Tesla will bring a new structure with updated awards focused on minimizing Tesla’s cost while increasing the brand’s awareness.

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