Tesla has pushed a new software update for the Model 3 that improves the car for owners in cold weather.
Model 3 software update (2018.44.2) includes “Cold weather improvements.” The description says: “Window position and charge connector locking behaviors have been optimized for cold weather.”
Because the Model 3’s doors are frameless, the window slides down to allow the door to open when handle is pulled. But, in cold weather the handles and window can stick making it hard for the door to open.
The charge connector updates seem to be related to to the locking mechanism sticking in freezing temperatures. However, after the update, some TMC members reported that they were unable to unplug the charge cable.
Darthbenji wrote: “Made things worse for me. Can’t unplug my charge cable now. Lovely.”
Frankholdem wrote: “My car was plugged in yesterday when i did the update. After the update completed I tried to unplug the wall connector but it wouldn’t release. I tried hitting the connector unlock both in the app and inside the car but to no avail. The light on the charging port showed as red and there were a few error messages on the screen in the car. I tried rebooting and powering off the car but that didn’t help. I finally used the manual release which is in the trunk ( there are videos on YouTube showing how to use it) and that allowed me to remove the charging cable. A couple minutes later the error messages on the screen went away. This all happened in my garage at temperatures well above freezing.”
Still, others in the forum had no trouble.