Tesla window tint

Why a Tesla is a different tint job

From the driver’s seat, a Model Y is most of a greenhouse. Tesla builds its cars with a lot of glass over the cabin: fixed glass roofs on the 3 and Y, a full panoramic roof on the S, a windshield that runs over your head on the X, and a windshield the size of a dining table on the Cybertruck.

The factory glass blocks UV but passes infrared, so under Maui sun the roof heats the cabin and the climate system spends range cooling it back down.

Ceramic window tint is the fix. ProLayers ceramic IR film rejects infrared with nano-ceramic particles instead of dye or metal, so it cuts the heat without darkening the roof much and without putting anything conductive near the cameras. This page is the Tesla tint hub; the Model 3, Model Y and Model S each have a page with their own glass plan.

The camera question

ProLayers ceramic film is non-metallic, so there is nothing in it to interfere with Autopilot, radar, GPS, the toll tag or the phone key. Metallic films can, which is why none goes on a Tesla here.

The forward cameras and the cabin camera are in the housing at the top of the windshield; film on the windshield stays clear of that zone. The B-pillar cameras are in the pillar trim, the repeater cameras are in the front fenders, and the rear camera is above the license plate. None of those sit on tinted glass. We do not alter or calibrate any of these systems, and you should keep following Tesla’s guidance on them.

Model by model

The Model 3 and Model Y share frameless doors and a rear glass that wraps up into the roof, shrunk as one sheet, with a fixed roof panel ahead of it. Model 3 window tint and Model Y window tint have the details; the Y adds quarter glass and a liftgate.

The Model S has a long single-pane panoramic roof and a large curved rear glass; V16 on the roof is the usual order. Model S window tint covers it.

The Model X is the involved one. The falcon wing doors carry glass with a shape nothing else on the road has, and the windshield continues over the front seats, so the overhead portion gets a light ceramic film for heat.

The Cybertruck is the opposite: flat side glass that films easily, and one huge flat windshield that is the whole heat problem. A clear ceramic film that keeps the AS-1 area at 70% is the plan there.

Shades that are legal

Hawaii requires 35% VLT or lighter on the front door glass, measured through the film and the glass together, with a 6% tolerance when the annual safety inspection meters it. Behind the driver it depends on the body. Hawaii lets sedans and pickups with mirrors on both sides run any shade on the rear side windows and rear glass, which covers the Model 3, the Model S and the Cybertruck. The Model Y and Model X are SUVs, which the statute does not name, so the shop confirms the rear shade for those before cutting. The usual Tesla order is 35% up front, a darker rear where the body allows it, a 70% to 50% ceramic film on the roof, and a top strip or a clear ceramic windshield film that keeps the AS-1 area at 70%. Mirrored film is out, and on 2013 and newer cars the third brake light stays clear. Every Tesla leaves with the compliance certificate Hawaii requires, which stays in the car, and there is no medical exemption for darker fronts; the Hawaii window tint law page has the full rule. Pricing comes from the quote page, where labor is by the hour per window and a Tesla pays what any other car pays.

Kahului, Kihei, Upcountry and West Maui

Every car is done in the indoor bay at 430 Hookahi St in Wailuku, at the same price from any town: Kahului is about 8 minutes away, Kihei about 25, Kula about 30 and Lahaina about 45. Tint pairs with Tesla PPF in one visit, and the Tesla Owner Package prices the two together with the roof included.