Aloha808

Hello,
I have a nx350h and I noticed even when I have the AC off it still blows cold air. I’m from Hawaii so it’s hot here. Am I hallucinating that the air is blowing very cold or is the AC always on. Is this something with hybrids? I like it cold but sometimes I wait in the car for 30 minutes for my gf to get off work and I wouldn’t want to burn excess power beyond what powers the fan and radio. I do have the eco ac mode turned on but there is no blue dot above the AC button.

mangust

I am sure I read someone's post about this just recently. I think this has to do with the vehicle maintaining its traction/hybrid battery at appropriate temperatures.
The battery heats up during use, and with a high ambient temperature it may need AC compressor assistance for the battery coolant. Since AC is already active, it residually cools the cabin air as well.

Brisky27

Same here. When not wanted, I press the button that changes the air flow direction so it only blows from the bottom vent. I also have my vents set to about 2/3 open anyways

lexsc4

I thought the Hybrid batteries are cooled by its own coolant system?

lexsc4

For me I love the AC blowing cold air, without engine running. I was way for my daughter today at 80F for 20 minutes, the AC was running in the hybrid batteries and the engine didn’t even kick in. If it gets too cold, I just turn it off.

LilyTiger

It’s not tied to just the hybrid models. With the new Toyota Multimedia system, the AC light will always turn off when you off the car and the light will remain off when you restart the car. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the AC itself is turned off. It goes into a sort of AC auto mode. If it thinks you need AC, it will still blow cold AC air even when the light is off, which is what you’re experiencing. And if it’s cold outside, it will blow warm heater air. So since the light will always be off when you start the car, if you want to ensure you’re getting AC, just tap and turn the light on. And if you want the normal fan or the heater, tap to turn the light on, wait a second or two so it registers, then turn it off again. Annoying, I know.

I’ve talked to my dealer about this and they’ve also received a lot of complaints. They’ve reached out to Lexus, and they insist it’s a “feature” and not a bug. I myself would like to know the reasoning behind why corporate thinks it’s a feature. If I wanted AC auto, I’d just press the auto button. From what I’ve heard and experienced, all the Toyotas and Lexus’s with the new interface have this same issue.

jlim0930

I noticed that when the AC is bold even without the dot on top the AC is on. You can touch the AC and when it’s no longer bold the AC is off

adaplaz51

All in all, it's a simple thing. There are two types of auto function, the first one is in car settings. Selecting this function causes you to lose control over the airflow, airflow direction and AC compressor (it can work even without the light on). If you want to regain control, disable this feature. After turning on Auto on the car's console, the computer only controls the direction and strength of the airflow. Now you can turn on the AC compressor manually and the computer will fix the selected temperature.