How hot does a glass roof get?

[cyberhunter]

I live in Texas and have never had a glass roof vehicle. The sun is intense here and I wonder how hot an all glass roof will make the vehicle feel inside. It looks like the roof is heavily tinted based on the few images from above I've seen. I'm hoping this keeps the open air and cavernous feel inside the truck without causing major solar heating inside the cabin. In my current truck that has an amazing AC, the side with the sun on them is much warmer than the other while driving. I'm wondering how hot the entire truck will feel in August when it is 100F outside with the sun blazing down. Anyone with a glass roof car in the deep south have some experience they can share?

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[CyberCop]

You can always tint the top with a mirrored tint so it reflects the heat.
you would not see it from the inside.

 

[cyberhunter]

I would think that the factory would make sure the roof is comfortable for the occupants and not require an aftermarket treatment. Does anyone on here have experience with a roof that is mostly glass and live in the southern half of USA?

 

[Mini2nut]

The larger than normal windshield will also be letting heat into the cabin. I like the reflective tint suggestion for the inside of the glass roof.

Safety tests have also proven that Tesla’s glass roofs are durable, with the Model 3’s roof withstanding over 20,000 lbs of force during the NHTSA’s evaluation.

 

[TyPope]

From what I've read, the copper infused glass for the roof blocks a lot of solar radiation and are, in fact, generally cooler than a steel roof painted. But, I don't have a Tesla yet so I don't know first hand. (Ask me again in a month and I may have a better answer!)

 

[ajdelange]

Hot! 120 - 130 °F? Glass roofs are usually tinted so the main offender is the windshield in most cases. The Model X has been criticized for this. Their solution is a screen that you can attach inside to block the sun. Never use it as I have never found this to be a problem. If you fear it will be you can precondition the car (run the A/C remotely) from anywhere in the world or you can set the car to automatically keep temperature below some threshold. Don't remember whether that is fixed or adjustable.

 

[Stratosurfer]

I live in Texas and have never had a glass roof vehicle. The sun is intense here and I wonder how hot an all glass roof will make the vehicle feel inside. It looks like the roof is heavily tinted based on the few images from above I've seen. I'm hoping this keeps the open air and cavernous feel inside the truck without causing major solar heating inside the cabin. In my current truck that has an amazing AC, the side with the sun on them is much warmer than the other while driving. I'm wondering how hot the entire truck will feel in August when it is 100F outside with the sun blazing down. Anyone with a glass roof car in the deep south have some experience they can share?

I have a CMAX with a Panoramic Moonroof here in San Angelo TX, it has a ‘curtain’ that closes to cover the glass from the inside on a button that does a good job at keeping the heat from entering the cab. Living in the Southern US a panoramic moonroof is really only usable in the fall winter and spring in terms of opening it during the day. It will really help folks in colder climates. And in hot climates you can open it at night to allow radiant heat to escape up through the glass.

 

[Dids]

I recently saw a Tesla patent for insulating glass. There are coatings that reflect IR and UV lots of office buildings have IR reflecting glass.
https://www.safelite.com/windshield-auto-glass-technology/infrared-windshield-glass. Safelite says the glass is clear to visible light but reflects 50% of IR.

 

[MEDICALJMP]

No personal experience, but I have a friend with a model 3 who I asked that specific question.

He says that overheating has not been an issue in the 36,000+ miles he has driven it across the US in all kinds of weather. He has read in various blogs that some people do complain of it. Just like with anything else there are variations in individual tolerance. If you're really tall it may be a bigger issue.

As tall as the Cybertruck is it made Jay Leno (5' 11") look small with that peaked roof. Doubt it will be a problem for a normal sized person or a runt like me.

 

[Tyrane]

I live in Texas and have never had a glass roof vehicle. The sun is intense here and I wonder how hot an all glass roof will make the vehicle feel inside. It looks like the roof is heavily tinted based on the few images from above I've seen. I'm hoping this keeps the open air and cavernous feel inside the truck without causing major solar heating inside the cabin. In my current truck that has an amazing AC, the side with the sun on them is much warmer than the other while driving. I'm wondering how hot the entire truck will feel in August when it is 100F outside with the sun blazing down. Anyone with a glass roof car in the deep south have some experience they can share?

you can always have ceramic tint with 90+ % heat reduction applied. even clear or very light coloring to block more UV and heat from interior. the glass will block many windshield mounted radar detectors

 

[DMC-81]

Copied from the heated exoskeleton thread:

I am hoping Tesla has a good solar heating and UV infiltration solution for all that glass. It looks totally awesome but without adequate mitigation in the bright southern sun, the glass would definitely contribute significantly to interior heating.

I had a C5 Corvette coupe with both tops, and in Florida, the tinted "glass" top would seem to burn a hole in the top of your head. I only used it briefly before switching to the solid top.

In my DeLorean, the black interior was sweltering in the summer and the already marginal AC system would struggle to cool it down. I tinted the windows with a version that included ceramic (15%), even tinting the windshield with 80% (practically clear). That made a world of difference.

I suppose if the Tesla solution is not enough for where I live, I can always tint the glass on the CT with a thermal barrier like I described.

 

[Guy]

I recently saw a Tesla patent for insulating glass. There are coatings that reflect IR and UV lots of office buildings have IR reflecting glass.
https://www.safelite.com/windshield-auto-glass-technology/infrared-windshield-glass. Safelite says the glass is clear to visible light but reflects 50% of IR.

 

[Guy]

Dog mode

 

[ajdelange]

Some real data points:

Sunny day here in northern VA with air temperature pushing towards 80 °F. The interior temperature in an X parked in the sun zoomed up to 105 °F within about 30 min. Note that the X has a huge windshield but the Y appears to have more glass on top and so, from the Leno video, does the CT.

The current Tesla owner can leave his A/C on when leaving the car or set the auto temperature limit feature or enable Dog Mode if he wants to leave Fido in the car and is not afraid some busy body will break his windows or call the police.

A new feature has just appeared on the App labeled "Vent". Push it and it comes up with a warning that you will not be able to remotely close your windows after invoking it which implies that it opens them irreversibly. Whaaaa? In any case it does not work at the moment but looks as you will be able to do this at some time in the near future.

 

[Capt_Roy]

Honestly, in the hot AZ sun (it was 107 deg F today), I'd do what I currently do with my SUV: put sunshade covers on the windshield + driver & passenger side windows, when I park at work. Potentially also add a "sunshade" to cover the moon-roof glass top. I've never owned any Teslas before. An option to have the A/C occasionally turn on to maintain a certain temperature would be awesome, assuming I can find an outlet to plug the car while it's park outside the office building.