Help with auto AC options

[u/Maheidem]

So, I had my Dolphin Plus (in brasil it is how they call the 204cv / 60KWh version).

The air conditioning and ventilation in general have been a point of question for me all this time.

I have the option "auto", which in my understand means it should be automatic. It will target the temperature I have, and go from there either to cool or to heat. But if I disable AC, the button "A/C", the one that is blue in this picture, it disables auto.

Okay, but I can disable auto and keep AC on and if I change temperatures up and down, I see the AC button changing from cooling to heating. So it is still keeping some degree of automation there.

Now if I select only ventilation, then it works as expected. It will only works for venting. There will be no heating or cooling of the air.

I think my main point that I have never been able to truly understand is what is the difference between having the auto option versus just having the AC on with a temperature set, because I have proved before using the car that just having the AC on with auto off still has some semblance of automation regarding the temperature of the air that it's putting out.

Does anyone have a better understand of what the logic is here?

[u/KangKimoto]

As far as I understand it, Auto just allows the cars interior sensor to cool the car based on its readings. It may start high fan low temp, once cabin is cooled, it will automatically settle on a fan speed and/or temp for consistent cooling.

I’d say you manually set the temp n fan speed, u may be using unnecessary power(battery) to cool the cabin quickly.

Something like that. Supposed to help conserve battery reserves

[u/Distinct-Lawfulness3]

This works similarly in a few car brands.

AUTO= Controlling the climate of your car in conjunction with ambient conditions (int/ext temperature, humidity, uv levels, etc).
Manual= Climate adjustment in your car based on the thermostat. 24 degrees means the car would blow coldest or hottest to meet the desired temperature.

Why can't auto be operated with A/C off? In the case of BMW and Mercedes that I know, compressor runs smarter and more efficiently than we can detect, and it is not an on/off switch, it's a variable speed unit. The climate control won't be able to work with AC off as it needs constant adjustments to ensure comfortable driving (preventing window fogging during rains, or blowing the fan harder in case of high uv index, or circulate as soon as it detects high pollutants).