No heated steering wheel? (Leaf and Bolt have it)

[Meros]

I've seen no mention from Tesla of a heating steering wheel on the Model 3. I emailed the North American Tesla sales dept. and they said it is not listed in the features, but the gentleman said I should wait until I'm invited to configure my Model 3 as it may be added later.

I spoke with a different Tesla employee on the phone (one who schedules test drives) and he also said no heated steering wheel and thought it was left out to separate the 3 from the S.

The press kit at tesla.com/presskit makes no mention of a heated steering wheel, but to be fair, it also makes no mention of it for the S/X either (but we know it is available on those cars).

I'm quite confused here. The Nissan Leaf and Chevy Bolt both have optional heated steering wheels (BMW 3 series also has it). How could Tesla overlook this? I know they are trying to hit a price point, but their competition has this feature. My wife even said she'd be willing to pay a couple thousand just for the heating steering wheel alone. Pre-heating the car helps but the heated wheel is is still a big plus.

I've looked at aftermarket options, but they all look like they don't heat well or can't be used while actually driving, lol.

Anyone else wondering about this too?

 

[boaterva]

Well, here's the Model S's current PUP (partial) description, definitely stated.

We don't know about the steering wheel for the 3, it sounds like it's not there. We also don't know for sure if the heated seats are only in the 3's PUP, since no one has stated authoritatively that front heated seats are standard (like the S and X). Need more info to be sure.

In both cases, you can say that it could be a mistake. A detailed review of all the controls to be sure there's no way to turn the wheel heat on, for example. But that one looks pretty conclusive, as a 'no'.

(Front heated seats as standard, probably need to wait for a base car to be built in a few months and examined, to be sure.)

Edit: As a comment on preheating: The PUP steering wheel looks like it's covered in leather-ish (whatever), so, if the car is warmed up, that could be enough. That might have been their rationale. And, y'know, California.

 

[RobertF]

I've seen no mention from Tesla of a heating steering wheel on the Model 3. I emailed the North American Tesla sales dept. and they said it is not listed in the features, but the gentleman said I should wait until I'm invited to configure my Model 3 as it may be added later.

Good, easy question for a current 3 owner.

 

[Insight75]

Wow. Heated wheel is quite important for me. Hoping its there.

 

[Zaphod]

For a while even the S did not have heated wheel as part of the subzero package. I've lived in cold winter climate state most of my life and never felt I needed a heated steering wheel. If it's not there, I'm sure it will be added at some point.

 

[MTOman]

Obligatory response for missing features: "do you care if your taxi has a heated steering wheel?"

 

[chronopc]

Obligatory response for missing features: "do you care if your taxi has a heated steering wheel?"

With climate control can't you just heat up the car before getting in? Does heated steering wheel really make a different?

 

[AnxietyRanger]

I have no idea if Model 3 has it or not, but one note: Model 3 clearly has a new steering wheel, whereas Model S/X use a Mercedes Benz acquired steering wheel.

It may be that Tesla has not yet had time (or didn't prioritize) implementing a heated version of this new steering wheel. Anyone have a guess who supplies it, btw?

With climate control can't you just heat up the car before getting in? Does heated steering wheel really make a different?

Yes, a heated steering wheel makes a difference. I certainly always miss it when it is not available in some car. It is a bit like seat heating - the seat/wheel material will take longer to heat otherwise than the air inside the car, feeling cold to touch...

 

[SageBrush]

Another Coloradan here:

Heated steering wheel: Meh. Gloves are fine
Heated seat: Definitely saves on cabin heating if windshield defrost is not required
Cold feet: Still working on that problem

 

[chronopc]

Yes, a heated steering wheel makes a difference. I certainly always miss it when it is not available in some car. It is a bit like seat heating - the seat/wheel material will take longer to heat otherwise than the air inside the car, feeling cold to touch...

Interesting. I've lived in CA my entire life so the steering wheel is only a problem in the summer when the car is over 100 degrees. Climate control should take care of that though.

 

[RubberToe]

With climate control can't you just heat up the car before getting in? Does heated steering wheel really make a different?

This. If you can heat or cool the cabin for 30 minutes before getting in, whether the car is plugged in or not, you would think that a heated steering wheel could be overkill.

Anybody from International Falls, Mn. care to chime in what happens when its 50 below, and you preheat your Model S/X for 30 minutes to 72 degrees before getting in?

RT

 

[S'toon]

I'm extremely irritated at Tesla for bundling the Cold Weather Package with the PUP. This is clearly California thinking. "Cold weather? Nobody would need that day to day, let's just put it with the PUP." The fact that places like Norway and Canada it gets cold obviously went over their heads. We're guaranteed -35 degrees Celsius and colder every winter here.

I have absolutely no interest in anything in the PUP except the Cold Weather Package. It can be argued that the glass roof of the PUP lets in cold which defeats the purpose of the Cold Weather Package. Bjorn Nyland used sound proofing foam as insulation in his old Model S.

 

[skitown]

Skitown here. I've had a Model S without a heated steering wheel and have recently acquired a Model S with a heated steering wheel. I'm excited about the new feature, but it was definitely not a requirement based on my experience. Never had one in my life! I can't imagine Tesla "overlooked" this. Facts are that they are doing everything they can to K.I.S.S. and are smartly bundling options to increase their gross margins; which I would do to if I had over 400K reservations and was as supply constrained as they will be for a long time.

 

[SageBrush]

This. If you can heat or cool the cabin for 30 minutes before getting in, whether the car is plugged in or not, you would think that a heated steering wheel could be overkill.

So long as you are plugged in and don't mind wasting electricity.

I don't fall in either camp ... but I do have a nice pair of gloves.

 

[SMAlset]

I always laugh when I see comments on how cold weather things aren't a concern to Tesla because it's in California. Hate to tell you guys but California has many different climates including mountains with snow on them and not far from Fremont. Not all surf and sandy hot beaches and skiing, snow skiing is big here even in the SF bay area which has a few snow ski resorts to frequent. Tahoe is an easy drive. Heck a few years ago even the south SF bay experienced 25F and historically has been as low as 20F in my south bay area. Our car windows get frost or iced over and need a defroster or ice scraper a lot of winter mornings. Lassen State Park just on Friday I think it was announced it had cleared the road through it...took 4 months and snow as deep as 25 feet.

 

[SageBrush]

I always laugh when I see comments on how cold weather things aren't a concern to Tesla because it's in California. Hate to tell you guys but California has many different climates including mountains with snow on them and not far from Fremont. Not all surf and sandy hot beaches and skiiing, snow skiing is big here even in the SF bay area which has a few snow ski resorts to frequent. Tahoe is an easy drive. Heck a few years ago even the south SF bay experienced 25F. Our car windows get frost and need a defroster or ice scraper a lot of winter mornings. Lassen State Park just on Friday I think it was announced it had cleared the road through it...took 4 months and snow as deep as 25 feet.

This all feeds into the meme that Tesla only thinks about coastal CA.
It is nonsense, if for no other reason than the Norway market. And the NE markets in the US
And the extensive winter testing facilities Tesla has in Norway.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled fare of conspiracy theories.

 

[skitown]

To add another thought - I'm more excited about my new-to-me S having heating elements on the windshield where the wipers rest, which my old one didn't have. Assuming it works as expected, If I'm having to prioritize features for winter driving in an EV, I'll take this over a heated steering wheel for sure. To be clear, my guess is that in time, Model 3 will have/offer all of these options.

 

[KarenRei]

These are literally some of the cheapest, easiest things you can add aftermarket (seat heating, steering wheel heating). It's really not a big deal at all if they don't have them. You can get seat heaters for $50 and they're cheap to have installed. You can also get heated steering wheel covers for like $20. And I agree that with with an app to be able to preset the climate, the point of seat heating is reduced, and heated steering wheels practically eliminated.

It'd be nice to have everything installed as factory defaults and cleanly integrated, but it's not the end of the world to go aftermarket.

 

[dgpcolorado]

Wow. Heated wheel is quite important for me. Hoping its there.

Pretty sure it won't be available, for now. I don't have it on my S and really miss the one I had in my LEAF. I don't preheat the cabin, usually, because I am dressed for winter and don't need the heat (if it is sunny I am often too warm despite it being very cold outside). But warm hands sure help with comfort in winter.

So I wear gloves to drive the S. Problem was that I couldn't work the touch screen with gloves on! Someone here at TMC suggested touch screen gloves so I got these: Metog Winter men and women outdoor sports warm fleece gloves touch gloves

Problem solved. But I still miss that LEAF heated steering wheel...

 

[S'toon]

I always laugh when I see comments on how cold weather things aren't a concern to Tesla because it's in California. Hate to tell you guys but California has many different climates including mountains with snow on them and not far from Fremont. Not all surf and sandy hot beaches and skiing, snow skiing is big here even in the SF bay area which has a few snow ski resorts to frequent. Tahoe is an easy drive. Heck a few years ago even the south SF bay experienced 25F and historically has been as low as 20F in my south bay area. Our car windows get frost or iced over and need a defroster or ice scraper a lot of winter mornings. Lassen State Park just on Friday I think it was announced it had cleared the road through it...took 4 months and snow as deep as 25 feet.

Let's see...20 Fahrenheit = -6.66 Celsius. OH MY GODS! THE HORROR! BARELY COLDER THAN FREEZING!

Call me back when it gets down to -25F.

We traumatized an Ontarian meteorologist here in SK when she called -15C "bitterly cold." That's a nice winter day here.