Heated Steering Wheel

[tnawara]

One of my favorite features when I had my 2001 Audi A6 4.2 (beyond the terrific engine, quattro, etc.) was the heated steering wheel. I haven't seen any official confirmation of a heated steering wheel on the Model S, but has anyone noticed that both the Betas and the Design Studio show a heated steering wheel switch?

I know that the interior climate can be pre-conditioned, which would obviate the true need for a heated steering wheel, but it would be a nice feature here in the (usually) cold Chicago winters.

 

[goyogi]

I'd enjoy it. There will be many times where I don't want to think about preconditioning my car and heated steering wheel would be nice.

 

[mnx]

One of my favourite things about driving in the winter is the heated steering wheel in my current car, a BMW 335d.

I guess I'll have to start wearing gloves in the winter again...

One of my favorite features when I had my 2001 Audi A6 4.2 (beyond the terrific engine, quattro, etc.) was the heated steering wheel. I haven't seen any official confirmation of a heated steering wheel on the Model S, but has anyone noticed that both the Betas and the Design Studio show a heated steering wheel switch?


I know that the interior climate can be pre-conditioned, which would obviate the true need for a heated steering wheel, but it would be a nice feature here in the (usually) cold Chicago winters.

 

[tdelta1000]

One of my favorite features when I had my 2001 Audi A6 4.2 (beyond the terrific engine, quattro, etc.) was the heated steering wheel. I haven't seen any official confirmation of a heated steering wheel on the Model S, but has anyone noticed that both the Betas and the Design Studio show a heated steering wheel switch?


I know that the interior climate can be pre-conditioned, which would obviate the true need for a heated steering wheel, but it would be a nice feature here in the (usually) cold Chicago winters.

Cool feature but could live without it.

 

[Robert.Boston]

It's possible that the heated-steering-wheel icon is simply a carry-over from the MB switchgear that Tesla appears to be using. It'd be a nice extra.

 

[NigelM]

Understatement.....:biggrin:

 

[ElSupreme]

Understatement.....:biggrin:

View attachment 5206

Growing up in Tampa, I remember having my first conversation with someone that had 'remote start' installed on their car. I was at college in Atlanta and they had lived in MA. I could not think of a SINGLE reason why one would want to do that. It was so alien to me that one would need to 'warm up' an engine.

It can get cold in Atlanta, and well seat heaters are really awesome. But I generally don't have problems with my steering wheel being cold. But I do wear gloves all the time when it is cold. I still can't get used to sub freezing temperatures. Every winter I do job searches in warm climates.

 

[Yggdrasill]

I always wear gloves when driving in winter. Anything else would be painful.

So yeah, heated steering wheel would be nice.

 

[Discoducky]

I always wear gloves when driving in winter. Anything else would be painful.

So yeah, heated steering wheel would be nice.

Are you still going to wear gloves when you've pre-heated the cabin? While the steering wheel might be a little cold I can't imagine needing to wear gloves. Just make sure that the vents are pointed where you hands hit the wheel.

 

[Yggdrasill]

I don't know. Depends on how good the pre-heating is.

If I decide to go to the store, hit the preheat button and the cabin is heated by the time I walk to my car and get in, that would be good enough for me. If the cabin would be luke-warm in five minutes, those five minutes might be enough to heat the steering wheel sufficiently for me not to need to wear gloves.

In any case, it's not a make or break issue for me.

 

[Robert.Boston]

Are you still going to wear gloves when you've pre-heated the cabin? While the steering wheel might be a little cold I can't imagine needing to wear gloves. Just make sure that the vents are pointed where you hands hit the wheel.

Yes. Unless you've preheated for a long time, the steering wheel will be colder than the surrounding air. If the car has been sitting at 0-degree F overnight, five minutes of preheating is going to leave you with a cold steering wheel and cold seats.

 

[onlinespending]

Yes. Unless you've preheated for a long time, the steering wheel will be colder than the surrounding air. If the car has been sitting at 0-degree F overnight, five minutes of preheating is going to leave you with a cold steering wheel and cold seats.

Yup. The steering wheel, as well as the seats have some thermal mass. It will take time to heat them up even after the cabin reaches its target temperature. Which is why those heated seats will still have some real value in the winter. Out of curiosity, does anyone know if the seats can be cooled as well? My current car, with black leather, can both heat and cool the front seats. The ventilated, cooled seats do come in handy a bit in the summer.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Yup. The steering wheel, as well as the seats have some thermal mass. It will take time to heat them up even after the cabin reaches its target temperature. Which is why those heated seats will still have some real value in the winter. Out of curiosity, does anyone know if the seats can be cooled as well? My current car, with black leather, can both heat and cool the front seats. The ventilated, cooled seats do come in handy a bit in the summer.

No cooled seats. Tesla folks have said in the past that that'd have required additional HVAC ducting work to the seats or some such thing in addition to placing an additional, albeit small, burden on the HVAC system in general.

 

[Trnsl8r]

Will gloved hands play nice with the touchscreen?

 

[ElSupreme]

Will gloved hands play nice with the touchscreen?

Depends on the gloves. If it works for your iPhone it will work with the Tesla screen. There are may gloves that now work with capacitive touch screens.

 

[strider]

Will gloved hands play nice with the touchscreen?

ThinkGeek :: Digits - Conductive Glove Pins
ThinkGeek :: Agloves Capacitive Touch Screen Gloves

 

[Beavis]

Ok, I have a question. Since you plug your car in at night, don't you guys have a garage? I always assumed that the EV market was limited to people with a garage but if you're worried about a heated steering wheel in 0 degree weather, are you parking on the street?

 

[jerry33]

Ok, I have a question. Since you plug your car in at night, don't you guys have a garage? I always assumed that the EV market was limited to people with a garage but if you're worried about a heated steering wheel in 0 degree weather, are you parking on the street?

Many garages aren't heated. If it's -30 outside, the garage is going to be zero at best.

Actually, the Model S won't fit in my garage, so I guess I'll be looking for a car cover.

 

[Beavis]

Many garages aren't heated. If it's -30 outside, the garage is going to be zero at best.

Actually, the Model S won't fit in my garage, so I guess I'll be looking for a car cover.

@Jerry, if it's 30 below, I'm not taking my S out. Living in CO, I'm familiar with cold weather. Although I admit to sitting outside in my shorts as I type. Crazy Winter. Oh, the design center is up so it must be Spring. So you are running an extension cord out to the car? Just curious, like I said, I thought the market would be limited to people parking with an outlet close to the car. Maybe I'm wrong.

 

[jerry33]

@Jerry, if it's 30 below, I'm not taking my S out.

LOL Well, it doesn't get -30 here either, but when I lived in Canada...

So you are running an extension cord out to the car? Just curious, like I said, I thought the market would be limited to people parking with an outlet close to the car. Maybe I'm wrong.

If I park in the driveway and run the HPC cord through a convenient notch in the garage door it won't be more than a few feet from the charger, which will be located inside. I'm not crazy about doing it that way, but i don't see a good alternative. The garage just holds the 2004 Prius and the Model S is 20" longer. Normally the 2001 Prius parks in the garage and it's shorter than the 2004 by a few inches, so there is plenty of room for it.